Apparently, it had become a tradition to celebrate all of their birthdays on the same day despite Marie being born in October. The reasoning was that with school in session it was difficult to have the type of celebration that they wanted.
This way all three of the girls were able to open gifts at their own pace and in privacy.
As the group relocated into the living space, where gifts were quickly distributed, Sirius looked rather uncomfortable and apologetic when he handed a single wrapped package over to Harry, while the others had received multiple containers. "Er, sorry... we uh didn't really know what to get you..."
Harry looked down at it before looking back and giving the man a warm smile. "I'm just glad you're here, happy, and healthy."
His godfather returned the smile, before it faltered slightly, "Wait... why did you put 'healthy' in there? Was I not where you come from?"
"Oh, no, no you were fine..."
He trailed off, uncertainty in his tone earning another fidget from the man. "Wait what do you mean by fine? Prongs, what happened to other me?"
The man looked over, glancing between the two and wetting his lips, "Nothing... nothing it's fine Padfoot don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about what? Come on Prongs make him tell me!" As he walked off towards the other man his wife looked over at the boy, who merely smiled and winked, earning a slight chuckle from her as well, perhaps that would be a lesson to the man.
****
While cake was being served Harry Potter found himself approached by his 'aunt'. "Hello Harry, how are you doing?"
He smiled back, "Good, I guess, it's a lot to take in a lot of changes between my world and this one."
She nodded in understanding, "I take it you never knew me where you came from?"
"No, sorry. I didn't spend much time with adults other than professors or the Weasleys though."
"Perfectly understandable. Your mother has hinted that you weren't raised adequately where you came from. I'm sorry that... well the me from your universe wasn't there to make a difference. "
It was an apology, in a roundabout Slytherin way and Harry merely shrugged, "I'm just glad that you make Sirius happy, its been great meeting you and your daughter."
****
"Hey Harry, I heard your mom and dad got you into an apprenticeship with Riddle." The boy had been sitting off to the side, far enough that he wasn't included in the adult conversations and wasn't the center of attention for any of the parents. It had been getting a bit overwhelming for the boy-who-lived hence the slight relocation.
It was then that Sirius had found him, "Yeah, they did." He tried to keep the uncertainty from his voice, though whether he was successful or not he wasn't entirely sure, but the man continued on regardless.
"That's good, you know me and Prongs did the same right? Your dad was the Transfiguration expert, of course, and while I was good enough to stand out my tutor was mostly because of the Black fame and fortune."
Harry nodded slightly, more than a little intrigued and not just learning more about the two men but also hearing how close they were to his situation. "So, your parents paid for them?"
He nodded, "Yep, I already had a marriage contract in the works, but they figured this way it would make me 'more valuable,' whatever that nonsense means. At first, I goofed off a lot during it, pissed off a lot of 'professionals' but eventually your dad smacked me upside the head and suggested I at least try and learn something, and he was right. By the time I graduated I was ahead of where I should have been, and it only added to my natural charms, Isn't that right honey?"
The last part was called out to the entire area and earned a slight turn of his wife's head along with an "Of course dear".
Sirius grinned, lifting some of the discomfort that had been filling the boy since being told of these plans. "I know some of this might be a bit upsetting, what with you being pushed into things and all, but that's kinda what parents do. They have more experience in life than you, they understand what will help you even if you don't like it at first. I mean, no one wants to go to school, study, and do homework, right? But looking back I can tell you it is important, even if it doesn't seem so."
He was at least partially right, although the boy was reluctant to admit it. "I'm just not sure about the person. The apprenticeship itself is fine but her..."
A sigh escaped the man's lips as he nodded in agreement, "I guess you had a bad experience with her in your world?"
"You could say that."
Sirius nodded, "But she isn't the same right? I mean you've had an entire year of classes with her not just as a professor but as your Head of House. Does she seem different?"
She did, he just wasn't sure how deep the changes went. There was still anger in her, deep down, but it was the same for others too, wasn't it? Hadn't Dumbledore been angry when shown his bruises? "I guess so, it's just hard to trust someone knowing who they were."
"I can understand that. Well at least my awesome transcends universes. Did we have a lot of talks like this back where you came from?"
The boy's grin dimmed slightly, "You… were different. Azkaban isn't a nice place and I think there was a lot of guilt, even if none of it was your fault. You were on the run a lot, which meant we couldn't spend as much time together as I wish we could have."
"Well… looks like we will have to make up for that."
The smile returned on Harry's face in full force at the man's words.
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