Chapter Six
Harry's twelfth birthday fell only days after the Wizengamot session, and Sirius was clearly trying to make up for Harry's prior years without a celebration. Sirius made sure that every wall in the house between Harry's rooms and the dining room had at least one 'Happy Birthday' banner, and a large black dog woke Harry by pouncing on him in bed. Since Padfoot had woken him at Yule as well, Harry mused to himself that he would have to set a trap for that behavior going forward.
Harry's language treatment had been his big present this year, but Sirius showered Harry with enough quidditch supplies and potions ingredients to make Harry feel like a wizarding version of Dudley. Sirius's final present was tickets for the two of them to the Nationals in quidditch, where Sirius and Harry both hoped Puddlemere United would end up competing.
In the afternoon, Sirius took Harry, Hermione and Neville to London for a showing of Star Wars and for lunch. Harry, Neville and Sirius thought the movie was absolutely brilliant and Sirius decided they had to see all three of them before the summer was out, not having seen the third one, himself. Hermione, who had seen all three more than once said she would go if it worked out, but not to delay dates on her account. However, she felt it was 'important' for Harry to see them since 'everyone has,' and she rolled her eyes when Neville pointed out that not everyone at Hogwarts had.
That night after dinner Sirius staged an abbreviated fireworks display in view of the back patio. Sirius told Harry these were a preview of the ones to be shown the next night, but that he thought Harry's actual birthday should have fireworks, not just his 'fake one.' Harry, who was feeling extremely spoiled by this point, beamed at Sirius and told him he didn't see how his birthday could possibly be better, making Sirius beam as well.
Harry had been looking forward to his birthday with his friends, but considered the 'dinner with dancing' the next day to be just another House event. Andromeda was appalled by this attitude and informed him that it was his 'debut'. She said he was being introduced to society. When he pointed out he had met almost all of the guests before and went to school with some of them she stressed that this was the first time he had hosted society. Sirius, sitting behind her to make sure she didn't make the event too grueling deliberately rolled his eyes at that.
Harry asked, deadpan, did that mean he should ask the house elves to bring out the tables for dining after the first chime sounded? If he had had any idea how much soul searching that question would involve on Andy's part, he would have left it alone. First, she said 'not for a children's party,' and he nodded. But then she thought a moment and said "but then you are the Head of two Most Ancient and Noble Houses." Harry waited for her to pronounce judgement and she finally said, "I think you should. But if you do it this time you will need to do it every time you host an event. The appearance must be not that you are showing off, but that this is simply how the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter entertains - even for a children's party."
"A children's dinner party with dancing." Harry said gravely.
She nodded. "Exactly." Mercifully she turned away at that point and didn't see the smirks Harry and Sirius shared.
Andromeda had also required Harry to get new dress robes, both because his other robes with all three crests had been seen at press covered events or 'major parties' and because he was now head of not one but two Most Ancient and Noble Houses and the embroidery needed to be different. This seemed wasteful to Harry, but he had long since decided to just let Andy order his robes when she thought he needed them, so he asked if she would please write the order and he would sign it. The robes he would be wearing to his birthday dinner dance were a dark red - not maroon - just as she had specified in the order. He now had two Head of House crests in gold on his left breast, Potter and Peverell, and one Heir's crest in silver - the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black - on his right. His other new set of robes were the ones he had worn to the July Wizengamot session. They were originally supposed to have just the crests of the two Houses he Headed, but at the last moment Andy apparently couldn't bear leaving Black off if Peverell was on, which is why that set had only the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter crest, like his old black robes, but with the Head crest embroidered rather than the Heir crest.
Harry and Sirius went for a fly while the last minute preparations were going on since Andromeda took her responsibilities of being known to be the one handling the hostess function for Houses of Potter, Peverell and Black events very seriously. She was in her element having never had six house elves to help her in setting up a party before and looked fetchingly but elegantly enthusiastic as she addressed more and more details Harry was sure no one would notice. It seemed like a good time to disappear.
They returned at the last moment they thought they could without Andromeda actually being worried if they'd show up, and Piper was waiting for Harry, while Mimsy asked Sirius to call on her 'until Piper be fixing Master Harry's hair." Sirius smirked at Harry who rolled his eyes.
Showered, dressed and coiffed, Harry was downstairs with Andromeda in the ballroom floo foyer ten minutes before the floo would open to guests with invitations only, as she had directed. Sirius was not there, however Harry felt sure Sirius was making a point. At one stage of the planning Andromeda and Madam Longbottom, both apparently feeling two males were unable to throw a party, informed Sirius and Harry how the reception line would be set up. First Sirius, would greet the guests and introduce Harry as the birthday celebrant, then Andromeda, Dora and Ted would be introduced. Sirius nixed that immediately saying this was Lord Potter Peverell's birthday, and therefor Houses Potter and Peverell were clearly hosting. As Lord Potter Peverell's father and as a fellow resident of the house Sirius assumed he would be in the reception line. He asked Andromeda if she had been asked by Lord Potter Peverell to join them. The silence was absolute.
It took Harry a moment to understand what the problem was, and to react. He said that of course he wanted 'cousin' Andromeda there as she was 'the unofficial hostess for the event.' If she wanted Ted and Dora there, he, Harry, was pleased to have them as well, but if he were Ted or Dora, he'd just as soon be left out of it, and why didn't they ask and see how Ted and Dora felt? It turned out that Dora did not want to be in the reception line if there was any possibility that she could get out of it, and Ted joined but only because Andromeda clearly wanted him there, so that was settled. However, Sirius showing up late - by Andromeda standards - underlined the point that Harry, not Sirius, was the host.
Harry was - almost - confident that Sirius would in fact show up before the guests did. Otherwise, he would be abandoning not just Andromeda but Harry, which was something Sirius had never yet done. And, sure enough, one minute before the floo opened Sirius walked in looking like the model Head of a Most Ancient and Noble House all other Heads tried to emulate without success and Harry smiled. Sirius, for his part, smiled at Harry's turn out before settling his face as the floo flared to admit the Dowager Regent Longbottom and Heir Longbottom - otherwise known as Neville and his Gran.
With a perfectly straight face, knowing Regent Longbottom had come on the dot to make sure he knew his role, Harry welcomed them both by their titles and mentioned what a pleasure it was to see them, then said "you both know my father, Sirius Orion Black III, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, ...and my cousin Andromeda Black Tonks... and her husband Eduard Tonks, daughter and scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." When Regent Longbottom gave a pleased if wintery smile and said 'indeed she did', Harry knew she had approved his manners and expected him to keep them up greeting the other guests.
Harry further took the opportunity to ask Neville if he would favor Harry by looking out for the younger guests until Harry was able to join them, since Harry would be in the reception line for some time. Neville nodded and agreed that of course he would be happy to assist, and Regent Longbottom looked even more pleased, with Neville having been given a quasi-official role in the event.
The Abbots arrived at this point and Harry had just reintroduced everyone to everyone when the Boneses arrived. In this case, Harry took the opportunity to 'reintroduce' Director Bones as the Regent Madam Bones, since it was a House event. There now being a critical mass of guests, Neville, Hannah and Susan moved off to stand near the musicians who were currently playing chamber music and the adults not in the reception line moved into the ballroom proper as well.
Harry knew that these three 'heavily aligned' if not all formally allied houses had arrived first intentionally to help him launch the party, and also, he suspected, to set the tone of the party as 'light' despite the politically neutral guests in the mix. He doubted Daniel Greengrass would be far behind given his close relationship with Sirius, however. Sure enough, Daniel and Muriel Greengrass and their daughters were the next guests to arrive. They also moved off once they had been greeted, however not before Harry had claimed the dinner set with Daphne. He knew he would hear about that from Sirius, but also felt certain that if Harry didn't ask her, Blaise would have done so before Harry had the opportunity to leave the reception line. Harry already had designs on the dancing of both Greengrass daughters and Lavender Brown. He looked forward to dancing with the Patels, as well. He was already far more content with the dancing opportunities than he had been at the Longbottom New Year's Ball.
When Harry was finally able to join his age mates Blaise was off dancing with Daphne, and Harry congratulated himself on having seen that coming. Ashley Ogden who would be starting Hogwarts that year was the only guest in their age range whom Harry had not met prior to this evening, although he knew Ernie MacMillan only slightly better. However, both boys were from light aligned Houses and part of the group of Houses Sirius was trying to pull together into an alliance, formal or informal. Sirius had pointed out to Harry that one reason Voldemort had done so well in the war is that he had positioned himself first to act politically. When he moved to violence, he had many well positioned Death Eaters creating a politically advantageous backdrop for his actions. Sirius intended for the Potter, Peverell, Black alignment to beat him to the punch as a political powerhouse this time around or at least provide a hefty counterweight. Already, they had significantly increased the budget of the DMLE and Sirius was spearheading an effort to formalize charging and trial procedures. Most people attributed this effort to his false imprisonment in Azkaban but Harry knew it was as much because of all of the people who had deserved to go to Azkaban who bought their way off as because of his own situation.
Knowing Parvati Patel least amongst the girls who - by repute- could dance, Harry asked her to be his first partner, for the gavotte. Her sister had not been exaggerating their skill, and Harry saw Blaise take note. Clearly Blaise enjoyed dancing as much as Harry did and Harry recognized the avid calculation Blaise aimed at Harry's dance partner.
The next dance was a waltz so Harry took the opportunity to ask Hermione to dance. He quickly confirmed that she was a 'waltzer' barely branching out into other dances. She was in good company with Neville, Susan, Hannah, Ernie and now Terry Boot and Ashley Ogden also in that group, so he was sure she would be asked to dance at least three times over the evening - and if she wasn't, he would ask her again. However, Hermione looked lovely in the dress robes Sirius had bought her for Dumbledore's trial with her hair smoothed back in a fashion nothing like her normal habit, and Terry and Ernie MacMillan both were looking at her differently than they did at school. Harry felt sure they would be claiming her future waltzes that evening. Hermione, predictably, was fascinated with the dance and behind the scenes politicking. Most of her questions Harry had to ask her to hold for them to discuss later since the objects of her curiosity were right there, but she took that with only slightly impatient grace.
Her parents had declined their invitation after Hermione had grilled Harry. His characterizing this as 'like a business dinner you have to do but for someone else's business' and his mention that he, Harry, was fine if her Dad dressed in a dinner jacket instead of in a formal wizarding robe, but he should be aware he would be the only one doing so did not make it sound appealing to them, for some reason.
The next dance was a minuet and Harry asked Daphne to dance noting with amusement that Blaise asked Parvati seconds later. Harry favored Daphne with a brilliant smile as he unconsciously relaxed into the familiar movements and felt Daphne do the same.
She smiled back, "You seem happy. Being twelve suits you?"
Harry laughed. "Dancing with someone who enjoys dancing suits me." He beamed at her and she looked flattered.
The dinner problem of the Greengrass ball was not repeated since Ashley firmly attached himself to Astoria as the only girl there who would not be at least a year ahead of him when he started Hogwarts and staked out the ability to escort her early in the evening. There was one more girl than boy in their age group, since Anthony had turned out to be in Japan and couldn't attend (but had many questions for Harry about testing out of DADA). Sirius realizing this came by just before dinner and ended up escorting Lavender Brown to dinner. Harry noted that he stood by Lavender and Parvati, rather than by Hannah, Susan and Hermione just before dinner was called, and was fairly sure that was intentional. After all, Sirius liked to dance too. Neville escorted Hannah, as Harry had come to expect.
Sirius maneuvered so that Lavender was on Harry's left, making the three of them an easy conversation grouping, clearly figuring that if he was going to escort a twelve-year-old to dinner, he was at least going to choose his own seating partners. Blaise claimed the spot to Daphne's right, 'in order to better grill Harry about DADA.' Blaise's partner was Padma this time, and she immediately asked if Blaise and Harry knew why there was an opportunity for O grade DADA students to test out this year. Blaise's smile widened and Harry smirked at him while Padma wasn't looking, knowing Blaise was realizing which of the Patel sisters had academic curiosity as well as dancing abilities. Blaise's twitch of a shoulder was as subtle as Sirius's habitual shrug, but Harry caught it.
"Henry here is the reason for the test out opportunity." Blaise said, "I was hoping he would explain it."
"There's a test out opportunity for DADA?" Lavender asked, "I didn't know that!"
"It is only for people who got an O in the last term." Parvati said, from the other side of Sirius. "You and I got Es so we didn't get the offer."
"Oh." Lavender looked miffed for a minute but then said, "Well, the instructor is dreamy, anyhow. I wouldn't test out if I could."
"Five time winner of the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile Award, I understand." Harry said agreeably.
Lavender nodded. "Exactly!" and Parvati chimed in, "Oooh!"
With that they clearly lost interest in the test out conversation and went back to discussing Paris - with an emphasis on clothes shopping - with Sirius who shot Harry a look implying that Sirius being caught between the two of them was somehow Harry's fault. Harry tried to hide his smirk, but not very hard.
"Oh, well, I didn't realize I'd be missing getting taught by a five time winner of the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile Award!" Daphne said in a low voice, careful not to let it carry to Lavender. "Too bad I went to all the trouble of talking Professor McGonagall into letting those of us who reach the midterm level by September 1st to self-study and take the final at the end of the year!"
"And she approved that?" Blaise asked, and Daphne nodded with a smile, having just put a bite of duck into her mouth.
"Why did you want to, though?" Padma asked, leaning in from the other side of Blaise. Daphne waved a hand at Harry.
"Henry told me one of Lockhart's books said he caught a ghoul with a tea strainer. I went to look at his books and that isn't even the only impossible thing in there." She dimpled, "Mind you he is cute, but not cute enough to fail my OWLS and NEWTS for when the time comes."
"I feel certain that if you asked for an autographed photo of him, he'd be happy to give you one and you can have the looks without the horrible class." Harry said, vaguely irritated at Daphne finding the fraud 'cute' but intrigued by the dimple, which he hadn't noticed before.
Daphne laughed. "He isn't that cute."
"You looked at his books?" Blaise asked.
Daphne nodded. "I had to make a case to my parents for testing out of the class. He has himself in more than one place at a time in different books, as well," she said. Blaise and Padma both shook their heads in disgust.
"Well, studying to midterm in a month is a lot more doable than studying the full year." Padma said, and Blaise nodded.
"But what about the practical work?" Blaise asked. "This summer our parents can help us but we'll want practical practice throughout the year to stay sharp for the final."
"I wouldn't mind having practice so I don't slip during the year, as well." Harry said. "Maybe we could start a DADA club or study group for practical practice. We might even be able to hire Remus to take on an afternoon every few months at the testing fee rate to make sure we're on schedule, then practice amongst ourselves." Blaise, Padma and Daphne nodded.
"That's right, you know Professor Lupin, don't you?" Padma said. "Would you be willing to ask him?"
"Sure," Harry said. "I don't know what his availability would be, but all he can do is say no."
"Ahem." Sirius cut in across Lavender. "I couldn't help but overhear and I'm sure if Remus can't do one afternoon every few months, I could help out." Harry beamed at him, and Sirius brightened. The others thought this was an excellent idea, and the matter seemed settled, for the moment at least. This was just as well, because Lavender had been sharing a thought with Parvati and seemed to be under the impression Sirius had just brought Harry into their conversation about shopping.
"Did you get any clothes when you were in Paris, Harry?" She asked.
Harry blinked and Sirius smirked at him. "Uh, no. We were only there three days. I bought some things in Italy but it was mostly summer clothes for the beach and beach towns."
"Well, and your jacket from the House of Marino." Sirius said innocently, gaining Parvati and Lavender's full attention, but also Blaise's.
"Do you like their clothes?" Blaise demanded.
"I do." Harry said. "They flow. Some of the jackets I tried on could have worn themselves they were so stiff." Blaise laughed.
"True. Flow is important," Blaise said approvingly, turning back to his duck, and Harry followed his example. Lavender immediately asked Sirius what he thought about the House of Marino clothing line, and Harry smirked. Daphne noticed and raised an eyebrow, her eyes dancing. Harry just grinned at her, quite pleased to be sitting with her and only 'next to' Lavender.
After dinner and the dinner set dance, Harry and Daphne, Padma and Blaise grouped to discuss the nuts and bolts of their alternate DADA plans for the year. Hermione, who was returning from the dance floor with Ernie McMillan sniffed audibly and Harry shot her a grin. "Hermione disapproves," he said. Ernie looked interestedly at Hermione who grimaced.
"They are opting out of DADA, or at least planning to take the test to try to get out of DADA this year. They've never even met the instructor but Harry has some kind of grudge against him!"
"Hermione, you can't cure a werewolf with a Homorphus charm!" Harry protested, causing Daphne, Blaise and Padma to laugh.
Hermione turned towards Padma. "It might not have just been that charm..." she insisted, looking for support, but Padma shook her head.
"That charm is all that is mentioned in his book." Daphne noted, taking Harry's side. Harry grinned at her.
"Hermione, you can take the class, you're a good enough student that even with a wasted year, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up." Harry said placatingly, which did not have its intended impact, as Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why would it be a wasted year?" Ernie asked, bewildered. The others looked at each other, and Blaise coughed.
"Some people," he said with a pointed look at Harry and Daphne "seem to think the professor is a fraud."
"So, you're not planning to test out of the class?" Harry challenged.
Blaise laughed. "Oh, I absolutely am. I am convinced of your premise," he said cheerfully. "But it was still your idea." Harry nodded, conceding the point.
"I got the offer to test out, but it just seemed like a waste of summer holidays if I could take the class with my friends..." Ernie said, clearly worried at this point.
"It is." Hermione said firmly, and Ernie looked reassured. Harry didn't say anything else but grinned at Hermione as she and Ernie left to get drinks, before asking Padma to dance as the music began again. He hadn't yet danced with her, so it would be expected, and he had already seen how well she danced. Still, he didn't really like the idea of leaving Daphne to dance again with Blaise, despite warming to Blaise quite a bit himself. He comforted himself with the fact that Blaise looked as if Harry dancing with Padma was just as unsettling to him.
Sure enough, when the dance was over, Harry spotted Blaise scanning the room, then making a bee line towards Harry and Padma when he spotted them. Blaise was not obvious about it, but since Harry had been looking for Daphne and Blaise as well he picked up on the Italian boy's intentions, and didn't mind at all. Blaise and Daphne caught up with Harry and Padma just as fireworks on the terrace were announced, and Blaise offered Padma his arm to escort her outside. Harry offered his own to Daphne, his eyes laughing. She looked amused as well as her eyes pointedly tracked Blaise and Padma. "They seem to have hit it off, don't they?" she asked Harry in a low tone as they moved towards the French doors.
Harry smirked. "It's nice to see everyone getting along." He said diplomatically, but they shared a grin. Hermione, Neville and Hannah joined their group on the terrace, with Ashley and Astoria right behind them. Ashley had stuck by Astoria's side as much as he could all night, despite their different levels of dance prowess meaning she was claimed for some dances he couldn't attempt. Since she was years younger than most of the other young people there, and since several of the boys were limited to dancing waltzes, she 'sat out' a number of dances. However, Ashley's attentive presence kept Harry from being concerned she would feel overlooked and, of course, he had danced a minuet with her himself.
The fireworks themselves were brilliant, and Harry basked in the pleasure of the guests at his party enjoying the grounds and the entertainment, beaming at Sirius when he caught Harry's eye. Sirius looked pleased, then glanced pointedly at Daphne's hand on Harry's arm. Harry restrained himself from rolling his eyes, but it was a close thing.
Following the fireworks there was more dancing, but people began to say their farewells and go home. When all of the guests had left, Sirius turned on Harry, but Harry was prepared for him, having seen it coming. "Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel," Sirius said, challengingly.
"Were invited, as I told you, because they can dance and because they supported me when most of the school was cutting me for pressing charges against Dumbledore. Which was good of them. I have no idea why my telling you someone only thought of boys, fashion and makeup and was a complete girly girl as far as I knew – but could dance – would make you want her company for the one part of the evening when conversation matters." Sirius looked nonplussed, having clearly been working himself up to blaming his dinner on Harry. "One so-so waltz and you could have been sitting with Hermione or Susan Bones, both of whom have interesting things to say. In fact, I too could have been sitting with them on one side and Daphne on the other." Harry realized, giving Sirius a dirty look. Harry took a breath and let it out.
"Still, I do truly appreciate that you escorted one of the twelve year olds I invited to dinner when there turned out not to be enough wizards our age. I was worried about that. So, thank you."
"You're welcome." Sirius said, a bit sheepishly, but then brightened. "I did notice you seemed quite cozy with Daphne Greengrass..." he encouraged leadingly.
This time, being in private, Harry did roll his eyes. "She's pretty, she's intelligent, and she can dance. That also applies to Astoria, who is ten, and to Padma, who I think Blaise has his eye on. Just because my Dad decided on his one true love young doesn't mean I will."
Sirius didn't look convinced. "I thought Blaise and Padma hadn't even met before tonight."
"True. He seemed to become interested quickly though."
"But before he even arrived you had asked Daphne for the dinner set." Sirius said, leaning against the wall, clearly willing to make an inquisition out of this.
Harry threw up his hands and blew out a rush of air. "Because otherwise Blaise would have before I left the reception line! Because he hadn't met Padma yet." Sirius' smirk made it clear he wasn't convinced and Harry was done arguing about it. "Anyhow, good night. And thank you, the fireworks were amazing!" His face brightened in memory and Sirius beamed at him.
"Sweet slumbers."
The next morning Harry brought his Dad's animagus journal down to breakfast to read over while he was eating. It had occurred to him that since he could cast a Patronus and could apparate, perhaps he also had the power to become an animagus, and he wanted to discuss it with Sirius when Sirius woke up. Which was not likely to be soon, since they had no particular plans this morning.
This time through the journal, Harry focused on the process and decided it would be more convenient to have a leaf fixed to the roof of his mouth if he were home than at school – although to be honest it sounded pretty awful no matter where he was. But if he started immediately, he would be ready to take the leaf out and meditate on his form by the time he returned to Hogwarts. Apparently, there were two ways of finding your form, one through a potion, which his father and presumably the other Marauders had used, and the other was through meditation. Meditation apparently had the benefit of possibly providing more than one form, symbolizing different aspects of the personality, but the potion was faster, and the Marauders, as usual, had been laser focused on their goal – to be able to spend the full moons with Remus, as quickly as possible.
For himself, Harry thought he would try the meditation if Sirius knew how to do that, and see how that went. If it took too long, he could always take the potion. He called Piper for his broom and asked him to take his Dad's journal back to his room, then took off for a morning fly until Sirius would more likely be awake.
When Harry flew back to the patio, Piper was waiting for him, and he had Mina with him from Italy. Pleased to see her, Harry greeted her happily. "Piper and Mina be having something to say!" Piper said immediately, with Mina beaming at him.
"What is it, Piper?" Harry asked, smiling at the elves' eagerness.
"Piper and Mina be having an elfling!" Piper said, bouncing slightly.
Harry was momentarily stunned, then broke out in a huge grin. "Congratulations!" He said happily. "When will the elfling be born?" he reached to hug Mina who hugged him back excitedly.
"In autumn!" Mina said brightly. Both elves looked at him expectantly and Harry suddenly realized there were likely hundreds of years of Potter traditions with Potter elves having elflings, and he had no idea what they were. He bit his lip.
"I need some help here." He finally admitted, as the elves began to look worried. "You know I was with muggles until last year. I don't want to miss any of the Potter traditions or celebrations regarding this Magic blessed event." He remembered and used the words Sirius had used in celebrating Dora's birth. "But until I talk to Fleamont, I don't know what those traditions or celebrations are. I'm delighted by this! Could you tell me what you would have expected my father to do if you had announced this to him?"
"He would do the elfling bonding!" Mina said immediately, taking him at his word.
"Does that make the elfling bond to me even if he or she doesn't want to?" Harry asked, worried.
Both elves shook their head but looked bemused. "It doesn't be bonding elfling to you but it lets elfling be drawing magic it be needing while growing." Piper explained patiently, but Mina was still bemused.
"Elfling be wanting to bond when elfling be born. Doesn't Master Henry be wanting to bond to elfling?" she looked worried. Piper's eyes widened in shock at the possibility.
"Of course, I would be honored to bond with your elfling!" Harry assured them quickly, and they relaxed. "And I'm happy to let your elfling draw on my magic until then." Both elves beamed again, their equilibrium restored. "Could you tell me what I should do?"
"You be saying you be Henry James Potter and you bond with Piper and Mina's elfling until elfling be old enough to choose!" Mina said, immediately, putting her hands in Harry's.
Harry reached for his family magic and repeated the words, feeling the family magic stream between him and Mina and a third tiny person inside of Mina. He couldn't help but beam as he felt a responding warmth. He hugged Mina again and grinned at her and Piper. "I look forward to meeting him!" Harry said delightedly.
Mina and Piper's ears perked up. "Elfling is a he?" Piper asked, bouncing without question this time.
Harry nodded with certainty. "Yes, he is!" Mina and Piper beamed at each other. "Mina, you need to be taking care of yourself extra well for the elfling's sake." Harry said, feeling very out of his depth. "If you need anything, please let me know!" Mina and Piper turned their beam to Harry, just as Sirius came out of the kitchen having seen Harry hugging Mina and holding her hands, and having felt the Potter family magic. He was plainly curious, and Harry nodded to Mina. "Tell Sirius your news!"
Piper and Mina, faces alight, told Sirius about the new elfling and Sirius smiled at the happy elves, congratulating them. Piper and Mina then popped away to tell the other elves and Harry went back into the kitchen with Sirius and sat down with him at the table.
"I was wondering," Harry began and Sirius nodded, having just put food in his mouth, "since I can apparate and cast a Patronus, do you think I might be able to shift into an animagus form as well?" he asked hopefully.
Sirius looked thoughtful. "Hm. Possibly," he said. "I take it you wanted to start learning this summer?" Sirius looked amused. "I mean, you do have a bit going on."
"Nothing that would keep me from having a leaf in my mouth." Harry responded, but Sirius wasn't really arguing.
Sirius nodded. "All right. We can work that in, but when it comes to actually changing forms, I want to be there in case you get stuck or there are other issues. I'll be coming up Sundays - at least, I assume you still want me to come to Hogwarts on Sundays for fencing and dueling?" Sirius asked uncertainly, but Harry nodded.
"Absolutely. Particularly since I won't be taking DADA. And that's no problem. I can just do the meditating and wait to try to take my form until a Sunday when you are there." Harry agreed immediately, pleased that Sirius was willing to help him learn so early. "It's not too much bother for you to come up on Sundays?" Harry checked in, but Sirius was shaking his head and giving Harry a 'look'.
"Not at all. I enjoy seeing you." Harry beamed at him and Sirius smiled but shook his head again. Harry still didn't get how important he was to Sirius, although Harry's self-esteem was improved from their early days together. In fact, Sirius looked forward to his time with Harry all week when Harry was away at Hogwarts.
Harry wasted no time in asking Donnie for a prime mandrake leaf, and Sirius helped him affix it to the roof of his mouth, teaching Harry the charm in case the leaf were to fall out which was apparently a possibility. The required animagus meditation to clear his mind easily fit into his evening occlumency practice and was similar to other exercises which Harry had performed. The hardest part about this first stage, unsurprisingly, was the leaf itself. Harry found its constant presence extremely annoying at first, particularly when Harry was eating or speaking. But he soon was able to push it to the back of his mind for the most part, immersed as he was in summer activities and lessons.