Sirius's Birthday
Summary: It's Sirius's birthday, his first one outside of Azkaban. Harry and Remus try to make it the best one to make up for the twelve years of missed birthdays.
AN: Takes place in Goblet of Fire. Sirius's birthday is three days after Harry's name coming out of Goblet of Fire and Harry's and Ron's fight. I'm ignoring Harry and Ron's fight and pretending they had an understanding.
Harry slammed a hand on the alarm clock on his nightstand and pushed the duvet off of him. He stretched once his feet hit the floor and shuffled his way to the bathroom. He got a shower and then dressed in the clothes he had laid out the night before. Slipping back into the dorm room, Harry picked up his rucksack and his duffle bag that he had placed his uniform in to change into.
"What are you doing up so early, mate?" Ron asked, sitting up in his bed. His voice sounded groggy as if he had just woken up.
"Sirius's birthday is today and I'm surprising him with breakfast," Harry replied.
"Okay." The snores told Harry that Ron went back to sleep. The alarm clock told him it was five thirty. Sirius got up at six for some reason Harry couldn't figure out. He knew he had thirty minutes to get down to Sirius's quarters and make him breakfast before he woke up.
Sneaking out of Gryffindor tower was the easy part, making to Sirius's quarters without being spotted was the hard part. Harry had only escaped Gryffindor tower twice since Sirius had taken guardianship over Harry. The first time was a night in early October and Harry had a nightmare that something happened to Sirius. He couldn't get back to sleep without knowing Sirius was safe. Professor McGonagall was patrolling that night and Harry had explained why he was out in the middle of the night before his head of house would scold him. She walked Harry to Sirius's quarters, where Harry said he would be staying with Sirius. He did, he even slept with Sirius, not wanting to be alone.
The second time was a few nights ago after Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. Sirius's quarters became Harry's safe haven, a place he could escape to. He had taken the map and the invisibility cloak that time and managed to get there before Sirius went to bed.
Harry made it Sirius's quarters and whispered the password to the ogre that guarded Sirius's quarters.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The ogre moved aside and Harry entered Sirius's quarters. His quarters were found in the Astronomy department. He was filling in while Professor Sinistra was gone on a stargazing trip and research sabbatical. Sirius never told Harry and left it to be a surprise when he got to Hogwarts.
While some teenagers would hate to have their parent or parental figure at their school, Harry was thrilled. For the first time, Harry didn't look forward to going back to Hogwarts. He didn't want to leave Sirius and had actually literally broken down in Sirius's lap on August 31st. He was surprised when Sirius was at the head table when he arrived at Hogwarts.
Remus had written Harry telling him he was coming up to Hogwarts to see him and Sirius one weekend. After learning when Sirius's birthday was and as it got closer, Harry and Remus had exchanged many letters discussing what they could do for Sirius's birthday. Deciding he wanted to pay Sirius back for what he did for his birthday, Harry decided to sneak down to Sirius's quarters and make the two of them breakfast.
Quietly as he could, Harry walked to the small kitchenette. He opened the cold box and pulled out the eggs, sausage, and bacon. Once he had collected what he needed, he set to work, being quiet as he could, he didn't want to wake up Sirius and spoil the surprise.
He thought back to his birthday that summer. Sirius has surprised Harry with his favorite breakfast, pancakes with sausage. Once he finished breakfast and dressed for the day, Sirius took him to London, where he bought Harry some more clothes, this time for some long sleeve shirts, winter weight jackets and pajamas, sweaters, and jeans. He included hoodies and a coat as it got cold in Scotland and Harry wore hoodies in the castle on the weekends. They made a pit stop to Diagon Alley for some treats and food for Hedwig and Sirius's owl, Bucky.
Once they were finished in Diagon Alley, they drove back home as they were out of floo powder and had anti-apparition wards around the property, plus Sirius was planning a surprise party for Harry and figured driving would give Remus enough time to get ready for the party.
They returned home and Harry took all the bags upstairs to his room. When he came back, Sirius said that Remus was waiting for them outside. When he came outside, he was shocked to find, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and the rest of the Weasleys there. They played Quidditch, ate, played Quidditch, and went walking around the property and the wards.
Ron and Hermione stayed the night with Harry. Hermione and Harry introduced Ron to homemade pizza and they ate sundaes while watching movies. They camped out in the TV room and had stayed up until one in the morning talking. About the new school year, the World Cup, and about what they did that summer.
Harry had thanked Sirius a million times over for doing that for him. He had never had a birthday party and he tensed Sirius he didn't know how he would top it next year. Sirius just smiled and said wait and see.
Now he was returning the favor to Sirius. He wanted to make it special with it being Sirius's first birthday outside of Azkaban and with Harry.
He just hoped that Sirius has a good day.
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Sirius woke up when the sun shined through the window. Why anyone would put a window there, he didn't know. He knew he would need to buy some curtains for that window. He sat up and stretched, scratching his head. He turned to get out of bed when he inhaled a scent of eggs, bacon, and sausage. He was about to get up and investigate when the door opened and Harry's head poked in.
"Good morning, Prongslet," Sirius greeted, his voice sounding a little grizzly.
"Good morning, Sirius. Happy birthday."
"Thanks." Sirius slipped on the slippers Remus had bought him and got up from the bed, walking towards the door. He embraced Harry in a hug as he passed his godson on his way to the bathroom. When he emerged he headed into the sitting room. He stopped at the sight of the table set for two with breakfast already served, a cup of tea in front of one and a glass of orange juice beside the other.
"Did you do all of this?" Sirius asked, turning to Harry.
"Yeah, except for the tea. I had Dobby bring me some from the kitchen."
Sirius approached his godson and embraced him in another hug. "Thanks, Harry."
"I thought I would return the favor since you made me breakfast for my birthday."
Sirius smiled softly, knowing that no one had done anything special for Harry on his birthday before. He knew, with there being classes on that day that he wouldn't be seeing much of Harry that day, only in between classes. But what Sirius didn't know was the plans that Harry and Remus had for the rest of the day and that evening.
Sitting down to breakfast reminded Sirius of Harry's first morning at his home or new home. He was surprised at how good everything was and when Harry went to bed that night, he and Remus discussed how Harry knew how to cook. Most thirteen years didn't know how to cook, let out fix breakfast that consisted of eggs, bacon, and sausage with waffles. Nothing was burned and everything was cooked to perfection.
They learned that Harry was forced to do the cooking, cleaning, and in general, the job of a house elf and sadly was treated like one.
The breakfast conversation consisted of what they had planned for the day. Sirius then began to tell Harry one of his favorite birthday memories. It was the one after Harry was born and it was mainly because before now, that was the last time that Harry had been with Sirius on his birthday. He didn't talk about his birthdays in prison, rather decided to talk about birthdays past.
Birthdays spent with James and Remus in the Hogwarts kitchen, eating cake and talking. Peter was there too, but Sirius didn't like to talk about him anymore.
"Thanks for breakfast, Pup," Sirius said, cleaning the table with a flick of his wand.
"You're welcome."
They continued to talk until it was time for Harry to change into his uniform. A part of him wanted to stay in the cocoon of his godfather's quarters. Ever since his name came out of the goblet of fire, those who weren't Gryffindor or who knew him well enough had been acting coldly towards him.
If it wasn't for the fact that Ron had dragged him out of bed the morning after, he would have stayed in bed and not leave his dorm for anything. But having Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, Ginny, and Neville's support, he was getting by. He also had his entire house in his corner, as some of the older students kept an eye on him.
Sirius had also kept a close eye on his godson and had threatened Barty Crouch if anything happened to Harry, he would have his head. Professor Dumbledore had even warned Barty that Sirius wasn't kidding. It was no secret that Sirius was protective of Harry, extremely sometimes.
Harry came back into the sitting room, dressed his uniform. He had chosen to go with the sweater today as the weather was getting chilly and the castle would get drafty towards evening time.
"Have a good day, Prongslet," Sirius said as they both walked towards the Great Hall.
"You too, Sirius."
When they reached the Great Hall, Harry headed to the Gryffindor table, while Sirius headed to the head table. He had just sat down and fixed himself a cup of tea when someone cleared their throat.
Sirius turned and found Dobby standing in front of him. Dobby pulled out a harmonica and blew it once. Then he broke into song.
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday dear Master Sirius
Happy Birthday to You!
By the second verse, everyone figured out what was going on and had joined in, only saying dear Sirius instead of Master Sirius.
Sirius blushed, smiling brightly as everyone had clapped after Dobby had finished.
"May you have many more birthdays, Sirius," Professor McGonagall said, leaning towards her former student and lion.
Sirius nodded his thanks and nodded to Professor Dumbledore, who lifted his goblet towards him. Looking towards where Harry was sitting with Ron and Hermione, he saw Dobby had approached Harry and his godson had slipped something into the elf's hand, and then whisper something in the elf's ear. Then Dobby nodded and disappeared with a pop.
Standing up, Sirius headed to the Gryffindor table. He was greeted by various students telling him happy birthday as he approached his godson.
"Whose idea was that?" he asked, once he had approached the table.
"Mine," Harry answered.
"It was brilliant." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and headed out to the Astronomy classroom where he would spend the morning grading.
Harry left to head to his dorm where he dropped off the memory of Dobby singing Happy Birthday to Sirius, in a vial to send to Remus, who had asked to see it when he heard of the teen's plan. Then he had to run to make it to Transfiguration in time. Upon arrival, he learned that Moody had come down with a horrible cold and that Madam Pomfrey had forbidden him to teach for the rest of the week. Meaning, he had the afternoon free to get ready for that evening.
"So, what are you and Remus going to do for Sirius's birthday?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Dobby is taking care of most of the dinner, leaving Sirius's meal to Remus, at his request, and the cake." Before Hermione could rant, Harry continued. "He's employed by Sirius, but he'll work in the kitchens or when we need something while we're here. He's being paid for his service, don't worry."
"What is he fixing?" Ron asked, not surprising Hermione or Harry.
"I don't know yet. Actually, Remus asked me to extend an invitation to you two for the small party we're having for Sirius."
"I'm in," Ron answered.
"I'll come," Hermione added.
They both had picked out something for Sirius's birthday when they went to Hogsmeade. It wasn't much, just a little something for someone one who had become a friend to them and had given a better life for their best friend.
"Alright, I'll let Remus know."
Harry never paid much attention to the lesson in Transfiguration that day. His mind was on that afternoon and evening. He hoped that this would be one of the best birthdays Sirius had.
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"Happy Birthday, Padfoot," Remus greeted upon entering the Astronomy classroom.
Sirius smiled, approaching Remus for a hug. They embraced, patting each other on the back. When they broke apart, Remus followed Sirius back to his quarters.
"What brings you up here?" Sirius asked.
"Well, I thought I would come and spend the day with you and Harry. And celebrate your first birthday as a free man! So, put on something nice, I'm taking you out for lunch."
Sirius smiled at the idea and headed to his bedroom to change into better clothes from the old ones he had put on when he wouldn't be teaching and hanging around the castle. An opposite to Harry's T-shirts, sweatpants, and hoodies he was typically seen in on the weekends unless he changed the sweatpants for jeans to go outside.
The two best friends walked towards the main entrance hall, which puzzled Sirius as to why they were going this way. He got his answer when he saw godson, standing beside the headmaster near the entrance hall.
"Have a nice lunch, gentlemen. And a Happy Birthday Sirius." With that Professor Dumbledore headed to the Great Hall.
Sirius, who was still surprised, asked, "Where are we going?"
"Three Broomsticks," Remus replied and motioned for Harry to follow them. They caught each other up with what was going on in their life. The Tri-Wizard Tournament, it was decided, was off limits.
"How did you do this Moony?" Sirius asked.
Remus smiled and looked at Harry on the other side of Sirius. "I have my ways."
Sirius followed Remus's gaze to his godson. "What?" He was stunned once more.
"Remus had written Professor Dumbledore and asked if he could pull me out for two hours after class and he agreed," Harry explained
They walked to The Three Broomsticks in silence until Sirius leaned over and whispered, "Thank you, Moony. This is how I wanted to spend my birthday. With my best friend and," Sirius paused and put his arm around Harry. "My favorite godson."
"I'm your only godson," Harry retorted.
Sirius chuckled and squeezed Harry's shoulder. "I know."
They entered the Three Broomsticks where they were seated at a table near the window. While Remus had chosen the cottage pie, Sirius chose steak and kidney pie. Harry couldn't stomach the kidney and decided to go with Shepherd's pie. Three Butterbeers and a basket of bread appeared at the table.
When Sirius excused himself to go to the restroom, Remus asked Harry if he extended the invite for supper to Ron and Hermione.
"I did. Ron and Hermione had picked up something for Sirius as well. I'll have to go up the dorm and get my present and then I'll come back to Sirius's quarters. Ron and Hermione will come with me."
Remus nodded, sipping on the Butterbeer. Then he remembered something and asked Harry to send him a copy of the memory of Dobby serenading Sirius that morning. He did.
"I'll get it when I head up to the tower and get Sirius's present."
"What did you get me?"
The question made Harry jump and turn around, finding his godfather standing in front of him with a face of pure glee.
"You'll have to wait until later, Padfoot."
Once again Sirius ruffled Harry's hair, this time he got a grunt in return. The waitress brought them their lunch and they began reminiscing over the last year.
Remus quietly obverse as Sirius and Harry had gotten into a serious (no pun intended) conversation about Quidditch and who was going to win the Puddlemere United and Chudley Cannons match and the Appleby Arrows and Holyhead Harpies.
Of course, when the latter group was mentioned, Sirius and Remus noticed that Harry had blushed slightly when talking about the young Weasley girl, mentioning the Holyhead Harpies was Ginny's favorite team. Sirius had shared with Remus that Harry had suddenly become clumsy around the young redhead. They both figured it was only a matter of time before Harry would gather some courage and ask Ginny out.
The rest of lunch was spent with the birthday boy telling his favorite memories on this day.
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Harry had returned to Sirius's quarters not long after they returned to the castle with Ron and Hermione in tow.
"Happy Birthday Sirius," Ron and Hermione both said at the same time. Sirius chuckled and said thank you. Suddenly Sirius started sniffing. His dog Animagus caused his hearing and sense of smell to be more prominent. It was how Sirius had figured out Harry had gotten sick after a particular bad fish and chip meal. Harry was the only one who had gotten sick and never told Sirius until he had found the teen retching in his bathroom.
"Remus, you didn't!" Sirius exclaimed.
Remus smiled. "I did."
Hermione and Ron looked at Harry confused and wordlessly asked what was going on.
"Remus made Sirius's favorite, steak cooked medium well, with gravy and mashed potatoes. There's roasted chicken for us," Harry explained.
Sitting down at the table, Remus served Sirius first as the three teens helped themselves to the meal. Remus, as it turned out, was a good cook. Even though there were things that Sirius made better, Remus and Sirius shared the cooking responsibility, agreeing to let Harry help if he wanted to.
"This is good," Sirius commented.
Once dinner was over, Harry had retreated to his room where he had hidden Sirius's present. Ron and Hermione both handed Sirius their present once Harry had returned to the table.
"What's this?"
"Just a little something," Hermione explained.
Sirius tore off the paper and found a book about Astronomy. It had been an interest for Sirius since he could remember and he had been able to achieve a descent OWL and NEWTS grade.
"This is great. Thank you."
Hermione smiled, having known that Sirius would like the book. "You're welcome."
Ron handed Sirius the bag of sweets that he, Hermione, and Harry had picked out. "Oh, this is great. Thank you both."
"Well," Hermione began. "We did have help." She turned and smiled at Harry. Sirius followed, smiling at his godson.
"This is mine." Harry handed Sirius his present. He had agonized over it for the last month of what to get Sirius. He had ordered a prank book by owl order and had wrapped it. But he felt that the book wasn't enough.
When he went to Hogsmeade last weekend, he had found a frame for a picture of him and Sirius from the summer. It was of the two of them at the beach. Sirius had taken Harry to the coast for the weekend. They had a great time, despite the fact Harry had gotten sunburned.
Harry had taken the picture with Remus's help had made a copy of the picture. Taking Sirius's copy, Harry put it in a frame and placed it in a bag.
Now was the moment of truth. Harry watched as Sirius opened the box that Harry had placed the picture in. He hoped that Sirius liked his present.
Sirius opened the box and paused when he found the framed picture of him and Harry from their trip to the beach. He had wanted to frame the picture but had never found the time to do it.
"Do you like it, Sirius?" Harry asked, hesitantly.
Sirius looked up from the picture and his eyes met his godson's. He noticed something in Harry's eyes and that was fear. Was Harry afraid he didn't like what he had given him?"
"I love it," Sirius assured him. He then noticed there was another present for him from Harry. Sirius picked up the present and tore off the paper. He found that Harry had gotten him a prank book.
Harry sighed in relief, happy that Sirius like his present. Soon Harry felt himself being pulled in an embrace. He looked up and met the eyes of his godfather.
"Thank you, Harry. I love my presents. You didn't have to get me anything."
"I said the same thing on my birthday and you said what's a birthday without presents." Harry reminded him.
Sirius laughed. He did say that.
"Alright, Sirius. Cake time," Remus called from the kitchen.
"Do I get to blow out a candle?" Sirius asked, his voice sounding more like a little kid than an adult.
"No," Remus immediately answered. Cutting the cake, Remus served Sirius first and then Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"This is really good," Ron commented. Hermione agreed.
"It makes your tongue want to slap your brains out, doesn't?" Sirius inquired.
"I don't know what to say to that," Harry retorted.
Sirius chuckled and reached over and ruffled Harry's hair. Harry let him, relishing in the small act of love.
Harry and Remus shared a look as Sirius was telling Ron and Hermione about his favorite birthday. For Remus and Harry, it was great to see Sirius smiling, laughing, and returning to the person that Remus remembered and had told Harry about. Remus figured Harry was a lot of the reason why Sirius had changed his ways when he was a baby, but he really changed when he was given custody of Harry.
They both were glad that Sirius's first birthday was a success. The smile on Sirius's face was the confirmation they needed.
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Harry laid in his bed later that night, a smile gracing his face. He had hoped that Sirius's birthday was one of the best Sirius had in a long time. Sirius never acknowledged his birthday while in Azkaban and Harry wanted to make up for the thirteen birthdays that Sirius had missed like he had done with Harry that summer.
Remus was on board with Harry's idea and had begun making plans, listening to the input Harry had given him. Sirius really enjoyed the day like Harry had hoped he would.
Turning onto his side, Harry thought over the day once more. The room was quiet since Harry was staying in Sirius's quarters for the night to spend some time with him. Even though Harry had class the next morning, he decided to stay with Sirius for the night.
He heard footsteps in the hallway and then the door to his room open. Harry closed his eyes to pretend to be asleep.
Sirius entered Harry's bedroom and found him asleep. He reached over and pushed back the stray hair. He watched Harry sleep for a minute before he bent over and kissed Harry's cheek.
"Good night, Pup," he whispered.
Once Sirius left Harry opened his eyes, realizing he had fooled his godfather. He laid awake for about five minutes before sleep claimed him.
Sirius peeked his head in once more and smiled at the sight of his sleeping godson. He couldn't help but smile when the thought of the small party that Harry and Remus had pulled together. Even though it was Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Remus, it was still fun.
He headed to his bedroom and went to bed. Before he fell asleep, he thought of how much his life had changed. He was free, he had custody of Harry and was getting to know his godson, and had his life back. With those happy thoughts, Sirius fell asleep.