Chapter Text
Harry came down the stairs and joined his godfathers in the dining room. He gave Sirius a fierce hug and Remus a side hug as he looked nosily at what he was working on this morning. As he flipped through some of the diagrams and spells for Remus’s next term, he groaned, “I wish you were going to be my teacher. Your students are always learning such cool stuff.”
“I’m sure you’ll learn plenty at Hogwarts, cub,” Remus assured him. Sirius gave him a doubtful look, remembering their own run of incompetent Defense Against the Dark Arts instructors. He conceded, “And I can always teach you in the summer.”
“Why are we sending him to Hogwarts again?” Sirius asked his husband, remembering too many nightmarish situations they’d been in (some of them they had admittedly caused) and thinking of the relative peace they enjoyed here.
“Some nonsense about legacy schools,” Harry informed him, pouring himself some orange juice from the carafe on the table and taking a couple of pieces of toast.
Remus nodded, making a face, “If a school admits a legacy student, it voids the right of other schools to offer a spot. Hogwarts offers a spot to all legacies as long as they display a functional magical core strength.”
“Also, Beauxbatons doesn’t let anyone start playing Quidditch until their fourth year. That’s way too late to start playing for real.”
Harry was in the phase every young wixen had where he wanted to be a professional Quidditch player when he grew up. Though Sirius had to admit that the child seemed more at home flying on a broom than walking on solid ground sometimes. Sirius grinned, “Well, I feel comforted knowing we’ve got our priorities in order, right Moony?”
“I think it had a lot to do with Amelia and Cissy threatening us with actual bodily harm if Harry didn’t go to school with their children.” Remus said fondly.
“Oh, that reminds me, we’re meeting Andie and Cissy for lunch at Diagon after we get our shopping done.”
“Are they bringing Draco and Tonks, too?”
“Yep, your cousins will be there.”
Harry seemed considerably cheered by this as he finished breakfast and went to finish getting ready to go. Sirius moved over to where Remus was seated and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He pressed kisses to his neck and then whispered, “Put your work away, Remus. You’re not a professor today, just a normal bloke having a day out with his family.”
“They changed some of the conventions for the International Magical Education Evaluations this year.” Remus grumbled, but gathered his parchment up, turning his head for a kiss on the mouth from his husband.
When Harry finally came back downstairs, Sirius told him, “Okay, one more thing I want your thoughts on. Glamours or no glamours?”
Harry hesitated. He didn’t like being stared at, but it also felt weird going around looking like someone else. Especially since this day seemed like such a big deal to everyone. Going to a family lunch not looking like himself felt even weirder. Still, he always forgot about how bad it could be, since people in France or elsewhere on the continent didn’t have the same reaction as Wizarding Britain did.
“No glamours, I think.” he said hesitantly.
“Okay. Don’t worry, cub. If people start staring at you too much, I’ll make a scene so people will look at me instead,” Sirius assured him.
“You know spectacle is one of his specialties,” Remus agreed.
Sirius retrieved the portkey from the coffee table in the living room. Before he could prepare them, however, Harry spoke up again, “Do you think it’s going to be like that at school, too? Everyone staring?”
The two exchanged looks and Remus said sympathetically, “At first, probably. I think the kids will adjust quickly, though, and it won’t be such a big deal after the first couple weeks.”
“Just stick with the people who see you for you, Harry.” Sirius advised and his godson nodded, though he still looked a bit concerned. “Let’s all stop thinking so much and go do some shopping. When I use our activation phrase, it’ll be a ten second countdown until we’re ported. Make sure you have a firm grip on the frisbee, then. Here we go: lumière des étoiles .”
Sirius smiled at the look of wonder on his godson’s face as he gazed around the alley which was bustling with activity and color and magic as always. He used a slight disillusionment spell so they would draw less attention to themselves. It was barely effective - he had to temper the strength considerably since those spells weren’t allowed in most shops to prevent shoplifting - but every bit helped. They did receive some doubletakes from people who passed close by them, some whispers, and even some pointing but no one outright accosted them.
Harry was impatient in the robe shop and nearly impossible to drag away from Quality Quidditch Supplies. Sirius tried to marshal every bit of affection and patience he had for the two as they spent a full hour and a half in the bookstore. The two of them looked furtively over at him and he knew tonight he’d be presented with a book they thought he’d enjoy. It was a sweet project they had to find books that actually kept his attention. It wasn’t necessarily that he didn’t like to read - or, well, he liked stories, and he liked learning about new magic - but his attention span tended to fail him, and his thoughts tended to wander, and he found he had no outlet for his excess energy.
When they finally left, Remus said, “Okay, I’m going to pop over to Sugarplum’s to stock up and I’ll grab your cauldron, scales, and telescope on my way back. I believe Sirius has a belated birthday surprise for you.”
Harry frowned briefly, “You’re not coming with?”
Remus sighed, “I wouldn’t want to upset the locals.” As he left, Harry looked curiously at his other godfather who just grinned in response and started making his way further down the alley.
“Sirius! Where are we going? Is – Oh! The pet shop!” Harry absolutely crowed the last part, looking incredibly pleased. Then he snorted indelicately, “The locals . . .”
The store was loud and chaotic as always which Sirius personally loved. The two of them walked through the shop slowly, looking in each cage, with Sirius withholding comment since he didn’t want to influence Harry’s choice in familiar. A conviction that was tested as the child circled over to the snakes. In particular, Harry was looking at a small black snake with a green underbelly.
Sirius cast a muffliato before the hissing could begin, not wanting to incite a panic in the middle of Eyelop’s. It was a difficult line to walk. The parseltongue had come as a bit of a shock to them, especially when performed by their guileless six-year-old who had seemed so pleased with himself. They never wanted to make him feel ashamed of any part of himself and so encouraged their godson to continue to view it as a positive trait. It didn’t mean that they could ignore the prejudice toward the ability.
“Even you have to admit she’s cute, Sirius.”
“She’s not cute,” he said, not questioning his knowledge that the snake was a girl. “Padfoot is cute. She is pretty, though, I suppose.”
Harry hissed at his new friend, perhaps relaying the message for all Sirius knew. With a sigh, he came closer to the enclosure, “Cub, I don’t know if they’d let you have a snake at Hogwarts. I wouldn’t want you to get attached and then find out she can’t stay with you.”
“Oh, no, they’re fine!” said a young store associate who had gotten close enough to hear. Thankfully, Harry stopped talking to the snake for a moment, looking at the clerk hopefully. “Really, they’ll accept any small animal that can be cared for using the already provided accommodations. I even had a Muggleborn roommate who brought a hamster from home. Ah, I do think it was a bit too much excitement for the poor thing, but the point stands.”
“It died when she brought it to the castle?” Harry asked, aghast.
“The first night,” the clerk sighed. “She found a really great cat the next summer though. They were inseparable.”
Sirius listened to her dead hamster story with a touch of disbelief. The girl had really found her calling as a pet store employee dealing with young children, yeah?
“Do you want to hold him?”
Harry beamed at that, looking up at his godfather for confirmation it was okay. Sirius said, “Go on then.”
The employee picked up the snake and handed it to Harry with both hands and the child took it in kind. It slithered through his hands, up his arm, stopping at his shoulder and flickering her tongue at his cheek, scenting the air. Sirius sighed at his godson’s delighted expression and asked the clerk for just a moment for them to converse. He cast another weak, apparently useless, muffliato spell.
Harry was quick to present his argument, “It says she’s non-venomous, and reptiles aren’t afraid of Moony, so it’d be like a real family pet. I love her already and she wants to come home with us.”
This kid. Sirius said, “It’s your birthday gift, Pup. I won’t stop you from getting her, but I want to always be honest with you. You know there’s nothing wrong with parseltongue, it’s a magical gift and we’re proud of you, but some people, especially back home, who are ignorant about parseltongue. And because they don’t understand it, they fear it. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong with it or even that they are bad people as long as they aren’t unkind to you, but it does mean that it might be seen as a big deal by the others at the school.”
Harry frowns at him, “I . . . guess I could try only talking to her when I am alone.”
“No, no. We’re not asking you to hide it. It’s not your job to be easily understandable to others. Not at the cost of who you are. I just want you to know what to expect in some cases.”
“Okay. I think I still want her, and I want to take her to school with me.”
“That’s perfect, then. Come on, let’s go look at the owls. I think we need to let Cassius retire and spend his golden years eating owl treats and hunting at his leisure. Especially since we’re going to be sending regular correspondence to Scotland now.”
Sirius was quickly drawn to a beautiful snowy owl and spent ten minutes talking sweetly to her about their property and Cassius and his family. It was pretty clear only a few minutes in that this would be the owl for them. He allowed his godson to name the creature, and he selected “Hedwig” after a saint he’d read about in one of his history books. The owl hooted softly as though in approval and Sirius paid for their new family members.
When they left, Sirius told Hedwig their address and encouraged her to stretch her wings and meet them there after being stuck in the cage at the pet store. As they walked over to their lunch spot, Harry tried to figure out a name for his snake but she kept vetoing his choices, so it was a bit more complicated. Eventually, she consented to being called Serena which he promptly informed his godfather.
It was easy enough to spot Andromeda and Tonks - whose hair today was a stunning array of the colors of the rainbow and was still wearing her Auror trainee robes from work - sitting with Remus who had already finished his shopping.
Harry hurried over to Remus and asked Serena if she would come down his arm from his shoulder and meet his other dad. The snake complied and Harry beamed at the man, “Her name is Serena, and the salesclerk said that we can have snakes at Hogwarts if they’re small, and she’s a reptile so she won’t mind your furry little problem.”
Andromeda and Tonks laughed, and Sirius grins to hear Harry use James’s old phrase for referring to Remus’s lycanthropy in public. Harry seems really excited, so Remus matches his excitement, rolling with the new snake pet easier than Sirius had, “She’s really gorgeous. We’ll have to read up about what kind of snake she is and what environment and treats they like.”
“She is a beauty, really,” Andie agreed, and Tonks made her hair turn to black and green, twisting into a braid which elicited a laugh from everyone.
“Cissy and Draco aren’t here yet? That’s unusual. She’s got that unshakeable pureblood punctuality.”
“ You shook it,” Andie pointed out.
“I was gifted at a young age with the ability to disappoint my pureblood parents,” Sirius waved a hand dismissively.
Not a moment later, Narcissa was striding toward them with her son in town who had a decidedly sour look on his face. Tonks murmured, “Uh oh, the Little Lord is not in a good mood.”
Andie said sharply, “Be nice, Dora.”
The girl had the decency to look properly chastised.
Narcissa looked amazing as usual, dressed in light blue flowing robes and her long blonde hair loose but perfectly coifed. Her son looked similarly well put together, but his eyes were rimmed red like he had been crying, making the grey of his irises look brighter than normal.
“My apologies,” she said. “We had a bit of a rough morning. Draco isn’t feeling so well today.”
“I’m fine,” Draco grumbled, pulling his chair out at the table in such a way that it scraped loudly against the tiled patio, causing everyone at the table to grimace. His mother frowned at him; patience clearly worn thin already.
“Hey, Draco,” Harry jumped in, “do you want to meet my new snake?”
The other boy looked interested in spite of himself, “You have a real snake?”
Harry encouraged Serena with soft hisses to meet his cousin which she did. Draco peering closely at the small creature. “What is she called?”
“Serena.” After some negotiation with his familiar, Harry asked, “Do you want to hold her?”
The blonde carefully took the snake in his hands, smiling at the cool and soft feeling of its skin and strange sensation as she began to coil herself around his arm. He held his arm perfectly still, and asked Harry, “Can I hold her for a while?”
“Yeah, as long as she’ll let you.”
Draco offered him a slight smile in return. Sirius tried, “We also got a gorgeous snowy owl that Harry named Hedwig. You can meet her the next time you visit us.”
The blond frowned at him, displaying none of the warmth he’d shown toward Harry, “What happened to Cassius?”
“We’re just giving him a break. He’s an old owl now and we can’t be asking him to make long flights all the time. He’s doing good though.”
Draco nodded a bit sharply and didn’t comment further on the promised snowy owl. Sirius couldn’t find it in himself to be bothered by an eleven-year-old being rude to him. Being a kid was hard, he remembered well, more or less so depending on who your parents were. This was why he shook his head slightly when he saw Andie and Cissy both open their mouths to scold him.
“Boys,” Cissy said, “can you do me a big favor? There’s a giant dessert case inside. Can you go take a look at everything they have and report back the best desserts for everyone to get after we eat?”
Harry makes sure to give his aunt a look to make sure she knew that he knew that she was trying to get rid of the kids in the group. When he glanced at his cousin, he saw he was giving her an identical look. Still, they headed inside, Draco telling his mother as they left not to talk about him with a serious glare.
She let out an unladylike sigh when the children were out of sight and put her face in her hands while her elbows rested on the table. Sirius and Andie exchanged a look; it almost felt scandalous to see Cissy in such a posture, so prim and proper she had always been. Tonks tentatively said, “You alright, Auntie?”
“You’ll have to forgive Draco,” she said into her hands, then lifting her head and running a hand down her face. Soon she was the perfect image of a lady once again, “He spent the weekend with Lucius, and he’s always like this when he comes home. Irritable, parroting his father, angry at me and my family.”
Sirius frowned, “What do you think is happening there? Is he mistreating Draco?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think he is “educating him” on his opinions about me and you and the wizarding world at large.”
“So, he’s taking the opportunity to badmouth you when it’s just the two of them,” Tonks clarified. Andie looked at her daughter as though she was unsure if she should ask her to leave the conversation, their relationship in that strange place where Andie was still getting used to considering her an adult.
Narcissa nodded.
Remus shook his head, “I can’t believe that they are making you share custody after everything that came out in the divorce proceedings.”
The woman shrugged, and said, “Pureblood families believe in keeping family matters private. To many people, it was me that committed the bigger betrayal by trotting everything out for the sake of the separation than anything he did to me.”
“Do you want me to speak with Gwen?” Sirius said, referencing the lawyer for the Black family who was the third generation from her own family to perform the job. She was clever and vicious and had actually proved invaluable. “He shouldn’t be allowed to do that. It obviously hurts Draco.”
“It won’t matter. It’s a miracle she was even able to procure the separation. No pureblood court is going to take away custody completely of an heir from his father. If Lucius had disowned him when we separated, it would be a different story. Most people view it as very virtuous that he didn’t.” Narcissa rolled her eyes.
It turned out that, unlike most pureblood families, the Blacks put provisions in marriage contracts for women who married outside of the family. “Escape clauses,” Gwen had joked when explaining them. They were standard for all Black marriage contracts and allowed dissolution of the marriage in cases of physical abuse, repeated infidelity, and the slightly more flexible ‘improper stewardship of the family.” Such as, for example, joining a radical political group that endangered the reputation, safety, and mental well-being of family members. Well, they hadn’t been able to get him on that one as Narcissa had already perjured herself helping the man “prove” he was under the imperius curse during the war. It had felt like the only choice at the time but was one she ended up regretting. They had been able to file on the grounds of the first two, however, albeit it was still a fight.
The only flaw in the use of these clauses was that for some reason the women entering the marriages didn’t know about them and weren’t educated on them. So, it only worked if there was someone to advise them to make use of them, up to their families to reveal them or not. It offered empowerment while at the same time finding another way to disempower the new brides.
“We’ll figure it out, Cissa,” Sirius said. “Let me see what she says.”
The boys returned shortly and started giving their report on the dessert. The extended family ordered lunch, and the mood relaxed. At one point, Sirius grinned innocently as asked his cousin, “So, how is renovating Grimmauld Place coming?”
He had offered her Black Manor, her own childhood home, but she had insisted that it was too big for her and Draco. She had also claimed that she enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city after so long feeling isolated at Malfoy Manor. Plus, no one had been happy in Grimmauld Place for such a long time, and she had the romantic notion that maybe the townhouse needed her as much as she needed it.
“Great,” she lied, taking a prim sip of her wine.
Draco raised his eyebrows at her a bit disbelievingly before looking at Sirius and giving a little shake of his head in the negative. Sirius burst out laughing and Narcissa looked at her son suspiciously but softly. She was just glad to see him relaxing already back into his normal self, and felt grateful for her family who seemed to make it happen so much faster.