Hello, I hope you are doing well. As for me it's been a stressful week. Anyhow, here's your chapter! From now forward I'll post the first Monday of each month since it has finally catch up to Ao3. I really hope you like this chapter, it has sibling bonding and the first hints of Wolfstar. I'm so excited for you to read the next chapter! I'm writing the last scene and all I can say is that Poseidon's scene got me so emotional. Also, I would love to read your thoughts of the story. It really does motivate me to continue writing and as each day passes I find things that make so much sense in the story that I didn't even thought about when I first started conceptualizing.
Love,
Liria
~OoO~
It had been just about a week and a half since Sirius Black had appeared back in their lives and Hermione could attest that it has been for the better. Having a wixen adult on their side has made a big difference in their information and resources. Not only that, having Sirius meant that they also had Professor Lupin as well. Who insisted on being called Remus as he wasn't their professor anymore. They had visited Potter Manor and were amazed by how grand and bright it was. Sirius explained that Harry's (and Hermione guess that now hers as well) grandfather, Fleamont, was a potions master and grandmother, Euphemia, was a healer; they always preferred to grow their own potion ingredients so they could make sure of its quality. Their plans for the next Wizengamont meeting were coming along splendidly and they couldn't wait to be out of the fire with Dumbledore.
Ron had arrived at noon on the dot the day before. The siblings finally together after two weeks had fallen into a pile of limbs when Harry had thrown himself into his older brother. Hermione didn't have the luxury of being a bystander however, since Harry grabbed her arm as well. Abuela had taken a polaroid of the puppy pile of teens. A photo that Hermione swore that she would keep as one of her greatest treasures.
Though, having just one day into his stay at the Granger's household Ron enjoyed it immensely. The house had a peacefulness that the Burrow just didn't possess. The dinner abuela prepared was bloody brilliant and he liked having his own room and bathroom. After their late night snack, the trio had locked themselves into Hermione's room to update their brother on everything they had discovered with Sirius. Not having written it in their letters knowing that Mrs.Weasley was reading into their correspondence and she would have definitely told Professor Dumbledore.
Ron told his siblings how his parents had joined the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organisation created by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort in the last war. He also mentioned how the twins invented extendable ears to spy into the meeting not finding out anything beside the fact that the members were guarding a door on the department of mysteries and a woman named Tonks worried about how Harry never came out of his relative's house. Ron suggested that she would be a good adult to trust since she was an auror and seemed to be the only one worrying about Harry's well-being and the fact that he was just a teenage boy.
Currently the three siblings are in the youngest's room. Hermione and Ron had planned to surprise Harry by waking him up at 11:58 so they could begin celebrating his birthday from the time the clock hit midnight. Only, what they found was the spectacle teenager hugging himself with the duvet on his bed looking at the waxing crescent moon, less than two weeks for the full moon, beside his bed. He seemed so vulnerable like the wind could knock him out and turn his body into millions of pieces, an immense contrast from the boy he liked to present to the entire world.
"Jamie love, what are you doing?" asked Hermione cautiously, not wanting to scare him.
Harry wiped his head instantly upon hearing Hermione's voice surprised, "Mia, Ron, what are you doing here?"
"Harry, you are barmy if you thought we wouldn't want to celebrate your first birthday together the moment that clock marks midnight." The tallest of the three replies while pointing at the clock beside the window. "Now scoot over, we want to sit beside you."
Hermione giggled softly while shaking her head disapprovingly. "Ronald behave! It's our brother's birthday!" She chastises in a faux tone, while walking lazily towards Harry's bed.
She glances towards the clock and smiles fondly at the boy in the bed. "Happy birthday Harry, you are the best little brother we could ever ask for." The birthday boy blushed, still not used to the genuine complements of his sister no matter how many years he's known her.
"Happy birthday Jamie, now it's time to open your birthday presents." smiled the tallest of the three moving the desk chair close to his siblings and sitting down, handing Harry a small rectangular box with blue wrapping paper and a silly orange bow.
The boy was about to object but his sister was quick to interrupt him, "Here, this is from me! Open them!" Hermione gave him a big square box covered in garnet wrapping paper with an elegant silk like black ribbon. After their first conversation with the Olympians they each had been assigned a primary colour.
"Thank you guys, you didn't have to get me anything. The fact that you are here with me at this moment it's enough." Harry tried to argue.
"Hogwash brother! Open one of the presents already!" Harry just nodded.
"Fine, you win! But I don't want to hear you complaining on christmas." He warned and took the smallest one, Ron's, deciding to ignore Ron's faux mocking expression. He opens it slowly, careful not to rip the wrapping paper. Having his siblings observing him so intently made him awkward until he saw the object inside the box.
"The prescription adjusts to the wearer." Whispered Hermione. The birthday boy raised his head surprised.
"You can also use them for quidditch since it's charmed not to fall and if you read the instructions in the box you could choose a word to summon the glasses without your wand."
"It's also safer for combat… Now that Riddle is back." Hermione mentioned carefully. Voldemort was a topic they spoke regularly. The war was brewing no matter what the ministry tried to do to distract the public. Both teenage boys nodded understanding their sister's train of thought.
Harry took the glasses and slowly put them on. He felt a tad bit dizzy, everything seemed a little bit off putting. He tried to adjust to the new prescription, opening and closing his eyes rapidly, trying and failing to remember the last time he got new glasses.
After a few minutes in silence the youngest nodded asking for the red box, taking careful precautions on opening it as well. Looking at the letters engraved in gold on the cover Harry was perplexed. He couldn't help but brush his fingers through the words. It made it all so real regardless that it's been half a year since they did the ritual. Harry raised his head excitedly to mention this only to be surprised by his siblings' faces. Maybe he had forgotten how clear his sight should be? He could now see every freckle on Ron's face and Hermione's small beauty mark close to her lips, the one he could only tell it was there if he was close enough to hear her breathe. Aunt Petunia didn't just not like him, she clearly hated him. He didn't understand how he could be so, literally, blind to this.
"Jamie, what's wrong mate?" Ron asked, concerned. Harry's eyes were watery but Hermione and Ron knew that it wasn't the velvety photo album with their shared last name that made their brother upset.
"It's nothing, I'm just glad to have you guys here as my family. Having this photo album makes it feel more real, it's the first time I've read Potter-Granger. This is our last name, we did this! I'm not alone anymore." Whispered Harry as if revealing this secret would make them disappear and be just a good dream. "By this time I'm looking out the window of my room at the Dursley's to see Pigwidgeon bringing your gifts and letters it was the only thing that made my birthday bearable at Durskaban."
"Brother, I promise you that we will never allow you to spend your birthday alone ever again." Stated run with finality.
"Make it our first official family tradition. On each of our birthdays we'll spend it together." Hermione smiles.
"What other type of family traditions should we have?" Asked Harry a little unsure about the idea. He had always seen the people he used to live with traditions from afar not being allowed to participate nor be in the same room if they could help it. Harry preferred it that way. In the dark quaint cupboard under the stairs he listened to Uncle Vernon boast about how much money he had and how he could buy any luxury brand item that Aunt Petunia wanted. The same Aunt Petunia who was at best a disinterested and bitter woman to him. Yet, she turned into an overindulgent and doting mother to his cousin Dudley, a spoiled good for nothing that will only be a deject for society. His cousin Dudley, his tormentor throughout their entire childhoods and well into their teenage years. Mocking and laughing about their normalcy and their superiority above everyone else in the suburbs. Harry hated them for it and for so much more.
Ron, sensing his brother's thoughts, tried to steer Harry's thoughts "Whichever tradition we want. From having desserts for breakfast every monday to having a picnic every time there's nice weather by the black lake and sky gazing as you are so fond of."
"We'll never leave you alone brother. We will always be here for you, by your side. We promise you that Harry." Hermione tried to reassure Harry.
"We did more than that though," Ron teased. "We changed our last name and created a new family. You are never getting rid of us now. We'll be together even in death." The auburn haired teen shuddered remembering a particular message Lord Hades had told Hermione a month ago.
"Thank you. I needed to hear that." Harry smiled back and hugged his siblings. "You know… you can get back to your own beds now, right?" Ron lifted his brow unimpressed and turned to look at their older sister. Hermione nodded and threw herself over Harry tackling him into the bed.
"Hermione! What the bloody hell?"
"We are sleeping here tonight obviously." she answered Harry in her no nonsense voice. "It's your birthday, we just promised you we wouldn't let you be alone on your birthday! Now, come on Ron. We need to wake up early to prepare for the party." Hermione padded the unoccupied side of the bed.
"Yeah, yeah I know. You've said that like half a million times." Ron replies as he turns off the lamp on the bed side table and lays on the bed on his side to face his siblings. Harry was close to the wall, not surprising considering he can't sleep unless he knows nothing can appear behind him. Their sister as always was between them because she can keep herself warm between their body heat since she's always cold. Ron himself, always preferred to be closed to the door as a strategy of years being the twin's and Ginny's favourite prank target. "Good night guys hope you rest well."
"Good night Ron, good night Harry. Love you." Whispered Hermione in the darkness.
"G' night, love you all and thank you. I loved my gifts." Harry whispered back.
"You welcome Jamie. Love you too, now everyone sleep! I don't want to think about what abuela is going to make us do in the morning." After a few quiet giggles they all went to sleep.
~OoO~
"Lily and I swore from that night forward we wouldn't let those two idiots alone in muggle London again." Remus finishes telling the siblings the story of the time James and Sirius were chased down by death eaters on the dog animagus' motorbike but ended up being caught up by the muggle police for excessive speeding and inebriation. Because of course the two auror trainees thought it was a good idea to have one last "extreme adventure" before the spectacle man was "off the market for good" (Sirius words, not James). Putting aside their chosen profession and the fact that they were fighting a war.
"Oh come on Moony, you know you love me." jumped in Lord Black sitting on Remus's lap and hanging his arms on his remaining longest friends, a tad bit too close for being best mates.
Remus arched his right brow while he felt his eyes turn golden observing Sirius trying, and failing, to make a fool out of him since it was the black hair man who was blushing profusely now. The werewolf smiled showing his fangs and said in a deep voice. "That I do puppy, that I do." Remus raised his hands to trap the animagus and turned his gaze back to his previous students, who were sitting in a loveseat a little bit crammed considering they weren't children anymore.
"James and Sirius were menaces. I'm not surprised that after they graduated from Auror Academy they were assigned different partners. Your dad's, Harry…" Remus knew of their bond the moment he was in the same room as Harry and Hermione in Potter Manor. After everything Ron and Hermione had done for Harry his wolf side was starting to consider them as part of his pack, only to be surprised to find Hermione carrying a slight scent of Harry and Ron, the same could be said about Harry and his best friends. He looked around making sure Hermione's parents and grandmother were still in the kitchen, before whispering, "...I guess he's the father of the three of you now."
Hermione's family members were at the kitchen finishing dinner, leaving some privacy for the teens and the two wizards to tell stories about James and Lily. "James' partner was a good chap, Kingsley Shaklebolt. If you'd like, I could owl him before you go to school in September."
"I'd like that." Harry smiled from ear to ear. "Speaking of school, why haven't we received our school letters yet?" Harry asked his brother.
"My dad said Hogwarts can't find a suitable professor. Fudge is trying to push for a ministry official as DADA professor yet both Dumbledore and the board of governors are against this. I bet even Malfoy Sr. couldn't believe he's agreeing with Dumbledore." Ron explained and watched amused as Sirius tried to escape Remus' clutches like a misbehaving dog.
"Putting old Lucy aside, everyone knows that Hogwarts is outside the Ministry jurisdiction." sighed Sirius giving up on being let go by the werewolf.
"Lucy?" Ron asked, amused.
"Lucius Malfoy and Sirius were raised in the same circles.They despise each other even then. "Lucy" is the immature nickname Sirius assigned the wizard. Considering he's been married to your cousin for almost twenty years, one would think that Sirius would grow the fuck up." Remus grumbled glaring at Lord Black.
"Cousin? Wait, are we related to Malfoy?" Hermione turned to the panicked birthday boy to hit him in the back of the head.
"We aren't, but Sirius is. Narcissa Malfoy née Black is a prestigious astronomy mistress. She has made a lot of discoveries about the relation between the moon and transfiguration."
"That's Cissa for you, always the overachiever." Sirius laughed but everyone in the room could tell there was a bit of sadness the man was trying to hide under his mercury eyes. It seemed every Black was made out of stars seeds and dust.
"Sorry to interrupt but I wanted to let you know dinner is ready. I suggest you get to the dining room asap if you don't want Dan to finish el cielito lindo and the sandwichitos de mezcla" Lena popped her head into the living room knowing Hermione wouldn't have forgiven her if she didn't warn her.
Harry, who had already tried the small triangle cut sandwiches, was already out of the loveseat. "Ron, race you to the dining room." Already at the door, passing Lena, with his brother close to his heels.
~OoO~
Hope you liked the chapter. See you in September!
Love,
Liria