Star of the Sea

It was hard to believe that it was Harry’s eleventh birthday, not only for Harry but Sirius and Marlene as well. With it finally being his birthday though Sirius and Marlene had decided together that it was ultimately best to take him out into the magical world. Sure they’d told him all about it, and were entirely proud when he would show magical signs, they hadn’t taken him to Diagon Alley yet, though. Mostly because they didn’t want to overwhelm him with everything magic; they also knew that things were different for Harry than they were for other witches and wizards. Everyone was going to know who he was, because well Harry Potter had lived through the killing curse, and he’d been the one who made Voldemort disappear. And as amazing as all of that was Marlene hadn’t been quite ready to expose Harry to all of that until he was old enough. She also hadn’t wanted Harry to have to go through the pain of letting everyone know his parents were dead and that he couldn’t remember them. Though she supposed, he could just tell everyone about her and Sirius. Honestly, it just tough wanting to protect Harry from everything until he was ready for it.

“Are you excited?” Sirius asked right before he felt Marlene lace her fingers with his.

Harry nodded his head excitedly. “So excited. But does this mean I can’t have friends over for my birthday?” He asked wondering if his friends from school were still going to be able to come over. Because even though he wouldn’t be going to school with them anymore they were still his friends and you only turn eleven once.

Marlene reached out to ruffle Harry’s hair with her free hand and gave him a smile. “You can still have your friends over just not today. We figured we’d take out you out and show you around Diagon Alley, maybe go ahead and get some of your school stuff, kind of let you have a magical birthday from us today. And then let you pick something to do with all your muggle friends tomorrow. Whatever you want that way you have the whole day with your buddies.” She said with a smile.

There was no doubt that keeping something this huge from his friends was hard and he didn’t enjoy it, but sadly there weren’t any other options. His Muggle friends couldn’t know that he was a wizard because it could risk others finding out, and Marlene just hoped that Harry understood that and would be okay keeping the two separate.

Harry smiled back, “That sounds fair,” he told them pretty sure it was fair. He couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. After all, he’d known about magic for the longest time now but he’d still yet to get to go into the world his parents had known. And if today was the day he was finally going to get to go to this Diagon Alley and see all the amazing things Marlene and Sirius were always going on about he was all for it, and wasn’t the slightest bit upset about not getting to tell his friends.

“Well, then buddy you wanna help me make your birthday breakfast while Marly here goes and gets ready?” Sirius asked smiling at him.

Harry nodded his head if there was one thing Harry loved to do it was cook; especially with Sirius, mostly because Marlene wasn’t the best cook so usually she wasn’t allowed in the kitchen when Sirius was cooking.

“We’re making bacon, and pancakes, and eggs right?” Harry asked hoping desperately that since it was his birthday, they’d make everything he wanted.

“What else would we be making?” Sirius asked jokingly before he smiled at Marlene then motioned for her to leave and get ready so he could make breakfast with Harry. “Okay how about you get the bowls out, and I’ll get everything else okay.”

And with that Marlene left the kitchen to get ready for the day smiling to herself.

When Sirius was younger, he had never once imagined having children. He’d hated the way he’d grown up and was a little worried that if he had kids, he’d screw them up the same way he felt his parents had done him and Regulus. Even after he knew he’d fallen in love with Marlene, he never pictured starting a family with her. Honestly, it wasn’t until James and Lily got married then had Harry, and he saw how precious Harry was, and how fantastic Marlene was with Harry that he started to think maybe as long as he had her next to his side starting a family wouldn’t be so bad. Then, of course, James and Lily were murdered, and Marlene had been very adamant that they should be the ones to take Harry; and while Sirius had thought it was right for them to he wasn’t sure they were ready. Here they were though ten years later.

Harry was doing wonderful, he was off to Hogwarts in a matter of weeks, and he’d been able to get over his fear of raising children because he felt like he and Marlene had done a pretty good job at raising Harry so far. He hadn’t gone hungry; he always had clothes on his back, and anything else needed or wanted really, they’d also made sure that Harry was interacting with other muggle children so he could have a relatively normal childhood. Sure they hadn’t exposed him to a lot of magic, but he did know what it was, and that he could do it. Honestly, Harry was probably the best thing that had come from the war, or at least for Marlene and Sirius.

—

“So how are my two favourite men?” Marlene asked once she’d gotten ready and made her way back to the kitchen where she could smell the food.

“We’re doing fine, did you want to set the table while Harry and I finish up real quick?” Sirius asked smiling at the woman he loved.

Marlene nodded, “That I can do,” she said knowing it saw safer for her to set the table and make things look nice where they were going to eat than it was for her even to attempt to make the food. She’d never really wanted it any other way, though, honestly when she was younger she’d hated when her mum would try and teach her how to cook or do anything in the kitchen. So when she’d found out that Sirius knew how to cook and enjoyed it, she’d been a little happy that she wouldn’t starve. Of course, it had meant every time he was over during the summers or a break; he’d spend a good amount of time with her mother learning all Marlene’s mum could teach him. Marlene was even pretty sure that she’d shown Sirius her secret family recipes, or at least a couple of them. And she was okay with that because he was her family now and it gave her comfort knowing that if she needed it he’d be able to make her comforting food the way her mum used to when she was little.

Shortly after Marlene had gotten everything in place on the table Harry and Sirius were walking in with plates full of food and they were enjoying a wonderfully made birthday breakfast together.

“So, Harry, I know we have a lot planned for you today. And we’ll do whatever you want tomorrow as well so you can enjoy your time with your friends from school before you have to say goodbye for a while, but Sirius and I wanted to give you something special. You’re turning eleven so before you know it you be off to Hogwarts, and we think you’re finally ready for it,” Marlene said before she got out of her seat then went to grab the wrapped up gift they’d been keeping hidden until the perfect moment.

They hadn’t gone out and bought him anything new or useless, but they had talked about how important it was for Harry to feel loved, and how good it would be for him to have old pictures of his parents, and not even just his parents, but of them as well. Along with all the rest of their friends as well; so that he could feel as if he had a part of everyone with him always. Sure he didn’t know everyone’s story, or why there were people in the book he’d never met, but the good thing about that was he could ask Marlene, or Sirius and they could tell him. Even though the stories ended sadly didn’t mean they weren’t all beautiful stories to tell.

Because Marlene couldn’t even count on her fingers all the times, she’d gotten into some trouble with Doe and Mary by her side. Or the countless talks with Alice she’d had. And Marlene didn’t even want to get started on her seven-year feud with Emmeline Vance, but she could tell that too if Harry wanted to know. Just like she could tell stories of Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius and their insane shenanigans; though she had no doubt in her mind that Sirius would prefer to be the one who told him all about the Marauders and their adventures. Probably just because he knew them all better, and the two of them could paint very different pictures about how everyone saw the Marauders.

Harry took the gift Marlene was handing him, laid it on the table and stared at it for a good ten seconds or so trying to guess what it could be, before finally just tearing through the wrapping paper.

Once all the wrapping paper was gone he picked it back up and just stared at it for a moment, he could tell it was a photo album which he was guessing had lots of pictures in it. However, he was a little nervous about opening it. Because for as long as he could remember Marlene and Sirius were his parents, they were his family, they were the two he’d run to for any and everything he needed. And he knew this book wasn’t going to change that. The pictures he was about to look at weren’t going to make him think any differently of them. But they were going to make it more real to him that his birth parents were gone. And it made him a little sad because he wished he could remember them even just a little, but then he remembered that even though he never really knew them he could still hear all about them from their two best friends, and that was enough to make him feel a little better.

“Thanks,” he said smiling at them both truly happy. Even given the circumstances on why he lived with them, and why he’d never known his birth parents, he was okay. He was happy where he was because Marlene and Sirius treated him well. They loved him, and he loved them, and he had a feeling that he wouldn’t have been happy anywhere else.