Sirius clapped happily. The other three stared.

“What? I love birthdays!”

After an hour and a half of training Harry needed to take a break. He was sweating and his breathing was a little labored. It had been longer that Sirius had expected Harry to last but for Harry it wasn’t long enough. How was he supposed to handle school and Quidditch if he couldn’t even handle his godfather’s training? Whoever the new captain for the Gryffindor team was certainly wouldn’t go easy on him. At this rate he would probably pass out in the middle of the game.

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself Harry. You’re still recovering,” Lily said patting the book. She eyed Remus, who was once again writing on his list, and in a whisper she asked James, “I am worried about that list. Is that normal?”

“Normal, no. Moony normal, well, what is normal for Moony really?”

“You two do know that I have enhanced hearing don’t you?”

Lily jumped and blushed.

This was also the time when Ron, Ginny, Fred and George had finished breakfast and started looking for Harry. Remus and Sirius had been right. The Weasley siblings wanted to know everything about the Order and what was going on to make Sirius and Remus so protective. The Order topic was easy since Harry didn't really know anything other than who the members were. The other topic was a little trickier. Harry tried to convince the Weasley siblings that Sirius and Remus were still upset because of what happened after the third task but he could tell they didn't really believe it.

The discussion was put on hold when it came time to prepare lunch. Ron, Fred and George sat at the table while Harry, Remus, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny cooked.

Remus crossed his arms disapprovingly, “So we slave away while they eat?”

“Moony, what did you expect?” Sirius asked bewildered.

“Besides, would you really want to eat something the twins cooked?” Lily asked and Remus shook his head violently.

Lunch was usually the smallest meal of the day because everyone was usually at work although it wasn't unusual for a few people to stop by for a quite bite and a little small talk with Sirius and Remus. The main topic of discussion was normally how to hold off the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Harry still hadn't given his statement to Fudge about the night Cedric died. He had managed to show the memory to a few selected adults before 'going into hiding for his own protection' (at least that was what Sirius and Remus claimed he had done). Harry hadn't been up for talking the last time he saw the Minister and knew the man didn't believe a single word Professor Dumbledore had told him. Fudge had even implied that Harry had killed Cedric but the Diggorys didn't believe that and ordered the Minister not to tarnish their son's memory by making false accusations. Running out of options, Fudge had even gone as far as to demand for Harry's presence at the Ministry or Sirius and Remus would be charged with interfering in an investigation.

“He can’t do that!” Lily cried.

“Unfortunately he can,” James huffed.

Mr. Fudge received a rather nasty howler from Sirius after that was said.

“You are becoming quite fond of Howlers aren’t you Padfoot?” Remus asked and Sirius grinned.

Sirius had more than enough dirt on Fudge, something the Minister was all too aware of so the investigation was currently on hold, awaiting Harry's statement which would most likely be taken the second Harry entered Hogwarts. As long as Harry was under the care of his guardians he was protected from the Ministry. Ever since Fudge had tried to order the Dementor’s Kiss on Sirius and failed, the coward of a man had made an effort to steer clear of the former Azkaban inmate.

Professor Dumbledore wasn't as fortunate as Harry. The moment Dumbledore revealed the Voldemort had returned, the Ministry (more precisely Fudge) had tried to discredit him. It didn't help that Rita Skeeter was still writing her usual articles blaming Dumbledore for anything she could and claiming that Harry was being used as a pawn by Dumbledore so people would believe him (Skeeter was also afraid of what Sirius would do to her if she said something bad about Harry). The articles were nothing but lie after lie but apparently some people believed them. Professor Dumbledore had been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards, he was demoted from being Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot (the Wizard High Court), and there was even rumors going around that his Order of Merlin, First Class was going to be taken away.

“It’s despicable how one man can hold so much power,” Remus said in disgust.

Dumbledore tried to downplay everything but everyone could tell the fact that no one believed Voldemort had returned bothered him. Too many people were blind of the corruption in the Ministry to know any better. It also didn't help that there were quite a few supporters of Voldemort that had high positions in the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy, the very person who arranged for Harry and Cedric to be transported to the graveyard for Voldemort's rebirth being one of them.

After lunch Harry was bombarded by questions again when Hermione arrived. Hermione had always felt the need to know everything and was a little put out to learn that Harry didn't know much. Although, she did enjoy learning about the history of the Order and wanted to know everything everyone had done in the past month. She (and the Weasleys since Harry hadn't revealed much yet) were shocked to learn about Harry being restricted to his bed for the first two weeks but was ecstatic (while Ron was horrified) to find out that Harry had completed his homework. Both Harry and Hermione then turned to Ron, silently asking how his homework was coming along.

“That’s not nice Harry,” James scolded.

“Yes, poor Ron had no incentive,” Sirius said.

“Remus shouldn’t have to resort to bribery to get you two to do your homework,” Lily scolded.

“Lily! Of course he should!” James said shocked.

Ron avoiding their gaze was all they needed to know that Ron was far from finished. Hermione took it upon herself to inform Ron that first thing tomorrow they would start working on it and keep working until every assignment was complete, much to Ron’s horror. Seeing the exchange, Harry couldn’t help but feel bad for Ron. Hermione could be relentless when it came to schoolwork.

As the afternoon faded into the evening, Harry was once again in the kitchen with Remus, Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley. There were a lot of people expected for dinner and the three new comers felt bad that Harry was working on his birthday and insisted on helping. The help was welcomed until Harry felt a wave of power wash over him, catching him off guard. Grabbing the counter for balance, Harry focused on his tai-chi training as he closed his eyes. Breathing deeply, Harry mentally ran through his exercises as a hand rested on his back, reminding him that he wasn't alone.

When the wave finally vanished, Harry nearly fell to the floor only to be held up by Remus. “Its okay, Harry,” Remus said softly. “It's over now.” Before Harry could do anything Remus helped Harry to a chair to sit in then hurrying off to get a glass of water.

“Moony always knows what to do,” Sirius said sagely. Remus blushed. Lily smacked Sirius.

“Don’t make him uncomfortable.”

Opening his eyes, Harry noticed that there were three worried witches staring at him. Great, he thought sarcastically. How am I going to explain this? Remus stepped in front of Harry and handed over the glass of water. Taking a sip of the cool liquid, Harry instantly started thinking of possible excuses he could make but his mind wasn't working at a reliable rate. Although he could handle the smaller outbursts they still took quite a bit out of him when they came. They only thing running through Harry's head was: why now?

“Hermione and Ginny, please find Sirius,” Mrs. Weasley said, breaking the silence. Both girls moved to protest but were silenced with a look. Reluctantly, they both left the kitchen. The moment the door closed, Mrs. Weasley cast a privacy charm on the door so no one could hear what was said. “Was that one of them?” she asked softly.

Remus nodded. “That was a rather small one,” he said as he pulled up a chair and sat down across from Harry. He looked at Harry's tired face and gave the teen a reassuring smile. “How are you feeling, cub? Do you need to lie down?”

Harry shook his head as he took another sip of water. That would only make matters worse. “I'll be fine,” he said as he met Remus' gaze. He could already feel the fogginess in his head leaving. It would just be a few more minutes before he trusted himself to stand again. “What am I going to tell them?” Harry asked worriedly.

“How about, hum, the truth,” Remus said.

Remus let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. “You could try for the truth, you know,” he proposed. “They're your friends, Harry. Do you really think they would turn away from you if they found out about this? We haven’t. We’ve been able to help you through this. Maybe they can too.”

“Yes, see how I wisely agree with myself,” Remus said, “Take my advice.”

“I have a feeling that by the end of this books Remus’ ego will be inflated beyond repair,” James told the other two. Sirius sighed dramatically and nodded. Remus glared at them.

Harry shook his head. There were many reasons Harry didn't want his friends knowing about this. The biggest one of them was fear. He was afraid of scaring them away. He was afraid of being different. It had been difficult to hide it from them last year with the outbursts coming when Harry least expected it but the suppression necklace had helped. He didn't have that luxury anymore. Dumbledore wanted to give Harry time to adapt to these bursts of magic before resorting to the necklace again. “No, if they let it slip—”

Seeing that Harry wasn’t going to agree, Mrs. Weasley stepped in. “We'll just say you were a little lightheaded, Harry, dear,” she said gently. “Everyone knows you're still recovering but this is a very large secret to keep. Are you sure that's really what you want to do?”

“Very smart Mrs. Weasley. Quite the mischievous mind,” Sirius beamed.

“Well, the twins had to get it from somewhere,” Lily pointed out.

The door swung open ending their conversation. Sirius was the first to enter followed by Hermione, Ginny and Ron. The three teenagers watched nervously as Sirius hurried to Harry's side. “Harry's fine, Sirius,” Remus said casually as he stole a glance at Harry. “He was just a little lightheaded. Why don't you two talk while we finish preparing dinner?”

Sirius nodded, not missing the emphasis Remus put on the word ‘lightheaded’, and sat down. After a moment, Ron pulled out a chair and sat down while Hermione and Ginny went back to helping Mrs. Weasley and Remus. Trying to break the silence, Sirius told Harry that he had been cornered by Fred and George who figured out that two of their idols were living here. A variety of topics were then brought up from Quidditch to the Ministry with Remus, Mrs. Wesley, Hermione and Ginny jumping in to comment or question every now and then.

“FINALLY!” James cried.

“Hum, James. Are you okay?” Lily asked slowly.

“Yes, why?”

“You just had a little strange and unrelated fit over there,” Remus said eyeing James worriedly.

“It wasn’t unrelated. I said: Finally, Mr. Moony and Mr. Padfoot are going to instruct Mr. Gred and Mr. Forge on the arts of Mayhem and Mischief.”

Lily and Remus rolled their eyes huffing and Sirius clapped, “Yes! Finally!” he cried.

“God help us!” Remus mumbled.

As dinner time drew near, people started arriving. Tonks was first and was rather disappointed to hear that Sirius and Remus hadn't pulled any pranks on Harry. She ruffled Harry's hair before sitting down next to Sirius. Mad-Eye Moody, one of Harry's previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, entered a few moments later. His appearance could be described in only one word: frightening. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were shocked to see Moody walk up to Harry and wish him a Happy Birthday like they were old friends.

The rest of the visitors treated Harry in a similar fashion. Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall and friendly black wizard who worked at the Ministry as an Auror entered with Bill Weasley and Mr. Weasley. Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance and Elphias Dodge arrived at the same time. By the time Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall arrived the kitchen was more then half full.

“Hey, I know Kingsley and Hestia!” James cried.

“We do too James,” Lily said annoyed, “They are at Hogwarts. I think Emmeline Vance graduated a couple of years ago.”

“Yep, Sirius had a major crush on her our first year,” Remus said. “He even gave her flowers and asked her out.”

Lily burst out laughing.

“Excuse me,” Sirius glared offended, “What’s so funny?”

“A first year asking a fifth year out. That’s funny,” she said gasping.

As the meal started, various conversations broke out around the table, Harry's lightheadedness forgotten. Looking around the table, Harry noticed that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George seemed to be overwhelmed just trying to take it all in. It seemed odd that this sort of chaos was normal for dinnertime at Grimmauld Place. This was the time when Harry learned the most of the outside world. There were plenty on Ministry employees seated around the table who had spent the entire day out in that world.

Harry understood why he had to stay at Gimmauld Place. He knew staying in this place was for his own protection. The Ministry wanted to question him and the Death Eaters wanted to capture him at the very least. Sirius and Remus had made it clear how dangerous times were to be the-boy-who-lived. Harry accepted this. That didn't mean he had to like it.

A hand on his shoulder pulled Harry out of his thoughts. “Is something wrong, Pronglet?” Sirius asked softly. “You're really quiet tonight.”

Harry shook his head and gave Sirius a reassuring smile. The last thing he wanted to do was worry his godfather. Sirius could really be a pest when he thought you were keeping something from him.

“Yes, he can,” Remus huffed.

“Why do I have the feeling Sirius was the on that prodded and prodded until he found out your secret,” Lily said smirking.

“Because he was!” Remus cried waving his arms, “And he got James into the investigation too! He just can’t leave well enough alone!”

“I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Sirius said calmly.

“Just thinking,” Harry said. “Do you think I'll be able to go to Diagon Alley when my letter arrives? I wanted to pick up some things.”

Sirius looked a little nervous as he appeared to be considering the request. “We'll see,”

“Which is parentish for ‘not a chance in hell’,” James huffed.

“Parentish?” Remus asked.

“Yes, Parentish- the language spoken by parents,” James explained in a “isn’t it obvious” tone.

he said finally which could be translated into ‘if Remus and I think it’s safe enough which I know it isn’t’.

“See,” James said and the others just nodded.

“I can't promise anything. I'll talk to Moony. I know you hate being locked in this place. It can feel quite claustrophobic when compared to Hogwarts. We just want to keep you safe. If the Ministry were to see you—”

“—I know,” Harry said as his gaze fell. He knew that Sirius was more afraid of Fudge and his supporters using him as a political ploy than anything. Since Fudge hadn't actually heard Harry confirm Dumbledore's suspicions there was still hope that the-boy-who-lived wasn’t ‘turning against the Ministry’, at least in Fudge's mind.

This was what they had learned from Percy Weasley who was working as Fudge's assistant. Percy's position had been a difficult choice for the Weasley family to accept. Sirius and Remus had helped Percy through the mess made when Percy's old boss, Barty Crouch, was found at Hogwarts suffering from a shattered mind. Although no one outside of the Order knew about the involvement of Marauders, Percy had returned the favor by helping the Order, especially when Fudge gave him a promotion. Fudge had given Percy the position because of his family's close friendship with Harry and Professor Dumbledore. To protect his family, Percy staged a falling out with Mr. Weasley at the Ministry of Magic. To the public's knowledge, Percy abandoned his family for his career. In reality, Percy kept in touch through letters passed through members of the Order who worked in the Ministry.

“That’s very brave of him,” Lily nodded.

“Yes, because if Fudge finds out he’ll be sacked in a second,” Remus said.

Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. “I know you do,” he said with a smile. “So what did you want to go to Diagon Alley for?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. The excuse of ‘I need some fresh air’ probably wouldn’t suffice. “A few books and I need to refill my potion’s kit,” he said. “Moony said that this year will be hard. I just want to be prepared.”

Sirius let out an annoyed scoff as he rolled his eyes. “Stop listening to Moony,” he said.

Remus glared at Sirius who smiled innocently.

“You’re bound to drive yourself mad. You have another month before you need to worry about school. Concentrate on your recovery, all right? I know you have made a lot of progress in the past month but you still have a long way to go. I’ll feel a lot better when we don’t have to monitor you during the night.”

Harry let the subject drop after that comment. He knew that Sirius and Remus were extremely worried about his current health. There had been more than one occasion when Harry had woken to see either Sirius or Remus asleep in a chair at his bedside. There had even had been times when Harry had opened his eyes to find Midnight (the name Harry had given Sirius’ Animagus form, otherwise known as Padfoot) asleep on the bed. It wasn’t so frequent anymore but it served as a reminder to Harry of how much he had put his guardians through in such a short amount of time.

“Harry, it’s a reminder of how much you went through not of how much you have put your guardians through,” Sirius cried in disbelief, “Honestly, can’t he ever think of himself.” He finished trying to grab Remus’s list. Surprisingly, Remus was able to avoid him and write at the same time.

“I think it’s time for presents,” Mrs. Weasley announced.

Harry looked at Sirius and Remus in confusion. Both of them were obviously avoiding Harry’s gaze. That can’t be good. As if on cue a small mountain of presents appeared in front of Harry making the teenager’s eyes widen in surprise. He had told everyone repeatedly that he didn’t want anything for his birthday but apparently some people were a little hard of hearing. None of them realized that having people around that didn’t hate you was a gift in itself.

Nervous with so many watching him, Harry started to open his presents. After opening the presents from his friends and the Weasleys, he reached a rather large and long present. He once again glanced at Sirius, half expecting for it to be a prank before unwrapping it. Once the wrapping paper was pulled away, Sirius and Remus helped Harry pull off the top of the box to reveal a large black telescope. To say Harry was stunned was an understatement. He had never seen anything like it before. The telescopes at Hogwarts didn’t compare to the one in front of him.

“Everyone in the Order chipped in to thank you for everything you’ve done for us,” Professor Dumbledore said pleasantly. “We all know it isn’t easy having your home taken over by adults. We all appreciate how understanding you have been, Harry. I also believe this can be of assistance with your present from your guardians.”

Harry turned to his guardians who were each holding a thin present. Remus handed his over first. With shaky hands, Harry unwrapped the present and pulled off the top of the box off. Inside was what appeared to be a certificate. Before Harry could take a closer look Sirius handed the present he was holding over. Harry took the hint and opened that one to see that it was the same thing. Now taking a closer look, Harry noticed that it was a registry certificate. He also noticed that on one certificate the name ‘Lily Potter’ was written in gold while ‘James Potter’ was written on the other.

“These are Star Registry Certificates, Harry,” Remus said, breaking the silence as he knelt down at Harry’s side. “If you look here—” he pointed at some numbers and letters underneath the names, “—these are the coordinates where you can look through the telescope to see the stars named after your parents. We thought that this way—well, if you ever wanted to talk to them you could just look up to the stars and they would be there, waiting to listen.”

“HELP MOONY!”

“Only if you help me!”

Sirius and Remus had been tackled on the bed and pinned down by the two future parents and were being hugged fiercely.

Harry was speechless. Running his fingers over his parents’ names, Harry couldn’t believe Sirius and Remus had done this for him. His guardians had told him enough stories about Lily and James Potter for Harry to feel like he somewhat knew them now but this was more than he could ever hope for. Being able to talk to his parents was something Harry had never thought possible. Sure, it wasn't the same as talking to them in person but nothing ever would be.

Fighting back the tears that were coming, Harry gave each of his guardians a fierce hug while whispering a heartfelt ‘thank you’ since he really didn’t trust his voice at the moment. The more time Harry spent with his guardians the more they tended to surprise him. In all his life Harry had never thought he would find guardians who would ever treat him like this. It seemed that he had gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. The hate from the Dursleys was replaced by the love from Sirius and Remus, something Harry was still trying to get used to.

Turning back to the crowd, Harry couldn’t help but notice that there were quite a few people with tears in their eyes. Regardless of what had happened in the past few months, Harry knew he wasn’t really alone. He had more people that cared about him than he had ever dreamed. How do you tell people that they are the reason you aren’t dwelling on the past? “Thanks everyone,” Harry said sincerely. “I really appreciate…everything.”

Sirius pulled Harry into a one-armed embrace. “Don’t mention it, kiddo,” he said with a grin. “Just remember this is the type of birthday you deserve.”

“Yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!” James cried.

Harry looked at Sirius and returned the grin before looking at Remus who ruffled Harry’s hair. For the first time in a long time, Harry felt happy. All of the worries of the outside world didn’t matter right now. Whatever happened with the Ministry and Voldemort would happen. Right now Harry could only focus on the present. Sirius was right. He needed to concentrate on his recovery first. The sooner Madam Pomfrey declared him healthy the better.

“Harry. Hate to tell you but Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t declare the healthiest person on earth healthy,” James said knowingly.

---

A/N: Um…wow! I didn’t think I would have such a response so soon. There are a few things I need to straighten out when it comes to Harry and his guardians. Sirius’ animagus isn’t a dog for nothing. Sirius is a protector, a guard dog if you will. Remus has learned just to let him be only adding points when necessary. Sirius wants to keep Harry close and probably would be suffocating him by now if Remus wasn’t there to keep Sirius in check. Remus is rational, he has to be. It may appear that Harry and Sirius are closer but that’s not necessarily the case. After all, Harry would go mad with two mother hens hovering over him. :-)

“Oh, Ksomm814 that’s so true. I do have to keep him in check all the time. He can’t go anywhere without a leash,” Remus sighed and Sirius thumped him with a pillow.