Harry Potter, Sovereign - Chapter 33

When they arrived in Birmingham, Harry revealed Scathach to him, presenting her using her alias, Ciara Canain.

When Sirius learned that she had been with them since he got picked up at the railway station, he got a laughing fit. He though it was a great prank, especially considering Moody’s paranoia. He was not really bothered by the seemingly security breach, because if she hadn’t been with Harry and hostile, special cloak or not, the ancient wards of the house would have warned him.

Harry and Sirius had a goot time. Sirius was already familiar with the non-magical world thanks to Lily, and later getting aquitained with muggleborn Ted Tonks, the father of his second cousin Nymphadora Tonks. He did have a motorcycle after all. So, Harry didn’t have to explain anything to him, and they could really enjoy themselves. Sirius proved to be quite adept at fighting games, becoming the uncontested champion of the group, to Vi and Xuanzang annoyance.

He learned a little more about Sirius time at Hogwart, with his father and Remus. Pettigrew was cut of from any stories involving the marauders. He also learned abit about his time with the Potters, and his grandparents, Charlus Potter and Dorea Black. They were of the same generation as Sirius grandfather, and had conceived James late in their lives. He admitted that James had been spoiled because of that, until Lily set him straight.

Harry also told Sirius about how he had been, and revealed a bit more of his time with the Dursley. He had always been vague about the subject, but talking to the girls had been cathartic. He avoided details or spending too much time on the subject to not sour his godfather’s mood. But with the way the 3 girls treated Harry, he couldn’t stay down for long.

Most of the time, the gorgeous woman with purple hairs had been at Harry’s side, holding onto his arm like a lover would. After the incident in the cab, Harry had become wary of what she would do once they got alone. So having her hold onto him, with his arm touching her b.r.e.a.s.ts, was ringing alarm bells in his mind, while also getting aroused and embarrassed.

Vi didn’t help either, because she liked to tease him. Adding Xuanzang naturally affectionate demeanor, and Sirius watching, often turned Harry’s face red. He had developped some resistance to it, but that was when there wasn’t an audience that liked to make comments. So, Sirius joined Vi in teasing him. It had nothing to do with his flirting not working with them, he was definitly not jealous of his godson. But he was still proud of him

On the way back to Grimmauld Place, Sirius decided to talk about what they had avoided during the afternoon.

“You shouldn’t be too hard on your friends, Harry. The twins and little Ginny, they really wanted to send you some news, you know. They had tried to sneak some once, but they got caught. The Order had been too careful with the messages being sent by the kids. If not for that, they wouldn’t have left you in the dark.”

Thinking about it, Harry realised that Fred and Georges had always looked after him in their own way.

During his first quidditch match when his broom was cursed, they ignored the match and stayed near him, ready to catch him. In second year, when people though he was the heir of Slytherin, they made a joke out of it and made him smile. They gave him the marauder’s map in third year. In fourth year, they silently supported him when the house was against them. He was puzzled for a little while, until he understood they couldn’t do anything more obvious because of their own interest in Angelina and Alicia, not wanting to get on their bad side.

As for Ginny, he was pleasantly surprised. She used to be too shy with him, and with her crush on him because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, he had always prefered to keep his interactions with her to a minimum. It reminded him too much of his unwanted fame, and what people expected of him. She seemed to have overcome her shyness and got over her crush. When she hugged him, he didn’t see the usual infatuation on her face.

“As for Hermione and Ron…” Sirius hesitated, less confident than before. “Well, maybe Hermione listen to a.d.u.l.ts too much? She’s a little too uptight? And Ron is an idiot?”

Harry snorted.

“You seem to have a problem with Dumbledore, and I’m not happy with him either. But they don’t, so they had no real reason not to listen to him. He is a powerful and respected man-”

“While I’m a stupid kid who can’t take care of himself and you’re deranged because of your stay in Azkaban?” Harry replied with a dull gaze.

Sirius looked at him, blinked and shrugged his shoulders.

“They’ve kinda been looking down on us” Harry said.

Sirius nodded. “I think that after today, they will be more considerate.”

“Now that I think about it, Ginny’s birthday was a few days ago” Harry said as he suddenly stopped. “Because of the trial, I completly missed it. I didn’t cogratulate her, nor did I get her a gift… A little help?”

“Well, we are in the muggle world, she must be quite used to wizarding gift, so a muggle gift would be fine” said Sirius.

“Get her a necklace or something” proposed Vi.

“Isn’t jewelry the kind of thing you buy to a special someone if they aren’t family? I don’t feel that way about her, and it would give her the wrong impression.”

Sirius barked a laugh. “Not all jewelry. It’s not as if you’re giving her a ring, you know. A necklace would be fine.”

“Or a beautiful hairpin” added Xuanzang.

“Perfume” Scathach said. She and Semiramis loved scented products.

In the end, he followed Scathach suggestion. He bough 2 differents kinds so she could have some variety, and had them gift-wrapped.

It was past 7pm when they returned to Grimmauld Place. Scathach didn’t stay with them, as she and the other girls were assured there wouldn’t be any foul play. When she apparated away, Harry discretly released a sigh of relief.

“We’re back!” Sirius happily shouted from the entrance hall.

And he winced when his mother portrait started to scream. Thankfully for everyone, he was able to quickly shut her.

“Sorry” he whispered.

They went to the sitting room, where they continued to talk until Molly called everyone for diner. She also informed them that Dumbledore called for a meeting after diner. Harry and his girls had expected something like that. Dumbledore would use the pressure of number to bring more weight to his words. Had the people not been busy during the day, it would have happened right after lunch.