Work Text:
Harry was clearly nervous, wringing his hands and trying to smooth his hair down in direct opposition to the way James had made his stick up when he was nervous. Sirius thought about asking, but it was clear that Harry was working up to something, and he didn't want to make him feel rushed.
It finally came after lunch, when Sirius was sipping on a lukewarm cup of tea as the dishes washed themselves in the sink.
"What would you say if I told you I was dating someone?" he blurted.
Sirius didn't flinch, didn't give any indication that he was surprised. He shouldn't have been, Harry was fifteen after all, but he sometimes forgot that Harry had lived a full decade-- and a little over-- without him. "I'd say who is it? And do I need to meet them or have we already met?"
"You have. Er- in passing." Harry squirmed in his seat.
"Huh. Who is it then?"
"Erm..."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. Who could Harry be so nervous to tell him about? Chances were that Sirius wouldn't even remember who it was, assuming that it was one of his Hogwarts classmates. And who else would it be? It's not like Harry went clubbing. He almost snorted at the thought. Harry had plenty of danger coming his way without asking for it the way James and Sirius had done, going to muggle gay bars together. "Haz, the chances of me caring in a bad way are slim to none. Take a deep breath."
He sucked in a breath, but on the exhale he said, "It'sCedricDiggory," in a mumbled rush.
"Cedric," Sirius repeated slowly. The name certainly sounded familiar. "Diggory... Diggory! The other Hogwarts champion right?"
Harry nodded, and Sirius preened to himself, proud that he'd remembered. It was such a simple thing to be happy about, but his memory about post-Azkaban things had been rather shot. He was getting better, but the other day he'd forgotten that they had captured Pettigrew and he was free, which led to an embarrassing scene in the middle of Diagon Alley.
Then, he frowned. He didn't notice Harry tensing, too caught up in his current line of thinking. "Wait. I thought he was older than you? Well it's only two years. But you're fifteen," he said, arguing with himself aloud. "He seems like an okay sort. Unless he's like his father." Sirius wrinkled his nose at the thought, but dismissed it with a shake of his head. "You have better taste than that. Alright, so why are you telling me? Am I meeting him officially or summat? Is he staying the night soon and you wanted permission to fool around?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"No!"
"Ah well, more's the pity. You're only young once sprog." And, in his case, in love. Surely it wouldn't end that way for Harry, but still. He worried.
"You... you don't mind?"
"Why would I mind? He's got a good head on his shoulders, and if I remember correctly he plays Quidditch. You'd be surprised at how rare a find that is."
"No I mean... you don't mind that he's a bloke?"
Sirius paused, and looked at Harry. Really looked at him. He was obviously concerned, wanting approval but just as willing to tell Sirius off and pretend he wasn't hurt if Sirius rejected him for it. All of this was to say, Harry had no idea about Sirius. It was weird that someone so important to him didn't know a fact that was so vital to who he was, but it made sense. Who would have told him? "Harry, I couldn't possibly mind that. Hypocrisy aside, James would hex me something fierce if I even thought about it."
"I don't want you to tell me you're okay with it just because you think my dad would get mad at you though," Harry said, looking the beginnings of hurt that could spiral into something worse.
"Yeah that didn't quite come out right." Sirius rubbed at his forehead. "What I mean to say is, I couldn't possibly mind that you fancy blokes, because I do too."
"You- wait what?"
Sirius gave a half smile and shrugged, wrapping both hands around his teacup. "I never thought to tell you because, at the time, everyone knew, it felt like. You know how I told you James and I were best mates?"
"Yeah," he said slowly. He was less suspicious and looking more like he'd gotten hit upside the head and hadn't gotten all his faculties back yet.
"Well, we were. A little more than just mates." He took a gulp of his tea, realizing too late that that was a horrible idea.
Harry blinked rapidly, trying to fit this into the view he had of his parents and their friends.
"Lily knew of course. She and James loved each other, but not like that."
"Then how was I born?"
Sirius licked his lips, trying to think of a delicate way to say it. "Muggles came up with something. A way for a woman to get pregnant without having sex. Lily wanted a baby, and so did we, so she asked if we'd help." He didn't mention that in the end they hadn't figured out a way to do it like the Muggles did. He also didn't mention that there had been sex involved, it just wasn't Lily who was with James. Frankly, it was a miracle any of it had worked, but it had, and they all got Harry out of it in the end.
"So I was... artificially created?" Harry asked, looking confused.
Sirius barked out a laugh. "No, more like artificially put together. You're one hundred percent natural prongslet. Your conception just needed a little help."
Harry was quiet for a long moment, and when he talked, his voice was solemn. "So when Dad died and they sent me to the Dursley's, you lost more than just a friend and his son."
Sirius's fingers convulsed around the cup, sloshing some out on the table. "Shit," he hissed, reaching for his wand to clean it up, but only succeeded in vanishing a chunk of the table somehow.
They both stared at the crater. "Sorry," Harry said quietly.
"It's not like you're the one that buggered up a simple spell," Sirius growled, frustrated and embarrassed.
"I shouldn't have said it without warning."
"It's not your job to tiptoe around issues I should already be over."
"You think you should be over him?"
Sirius huffed out a humourless laugh. "I didn't say that." He swallowed, trying to bring his mind back on track. "The point is Harry, I don't mind who you date, as long as they treat you right, okay? And if you have any questions, you can talk to me."
"Do you really want to have the sex talk with me?" Harry asked disbelievingly.
"Not particularly," he chuckled. "But it's better than going in blind and someone getting hurt."
"Hurt?" Harry asked, eyes going round.
Sirius stared, unable to move. He felt frozen to the spot, as surely as if someone had jinxed him there. "James?" he said numbly. He couldn't even feel his lips, and his wand might as well have been in Japan for all the control he currently had over it.
James sent him a tense smile, stuck in place by the wand at his throat and the harsh hand in his hair. "Hey Si. How've you been?" He bit down hard on his bottom lip when the Death Eater holding him kicked his leg.
"Let him go," Sirius snarled, wand up in a flash. For all the room was full, they might have been the only three people in the world. James was alive by some miracle, and Sirius would rather spend three lifetimes in Azkaban than lose him again.
The Death Eater was more of an idiot than the rest because he smirked and said, "Make me," like he had no idea what Sirius would do for James.
He found out pretty damn quickly.
Sirius may have ended the fight with a copious amount of blood on him, but none of it was his and he had successfully reminded everyone why he was a force to be reckoned with. Not that he cared about any of that, because James was here, in his arms, clinging to him like a lifeline. "Guess what?" Sirius said in his ear after saying 'I love you' over and over and over again.
"What?"
"Harry's got a boyfriend."
James laughed, muffling the sound in Sirius's shoulder. "I always knew he'd turn out alright."