Revised: May 27, 2022

——————————

The romance /really/ starts up in this year, so heads up

"Harry! You've got another letter from Fred!"

The words were hardly out of Sirius' mouth before Harry appeared in the kitchen, eyes bright and hair its normal bird's nest. "Thanks, Sirius!" he said, taking it and plonking into a chair to read it.

Sirius exchanged a glance with Remus, seeing his own amusement flickering in his eyes. The kid was becoming more and besotted every day.

Harry ripped open the envelope, cursing as the edge cut his finger. He distinctly heard Remus reprimand him but ignored him in favor of reading what Fred had to say.

Hiya, Harold!

The Quidditch World Cup is almost here. Dad said the tickets should be arriving soon. You are coming, aren't you? The answer better be yes or else George and I will smuggle you in ourselves.

Harry's eyebrows rose. A bit extreme... but that was the twins for you.

Anyway, I think those Ton-Tongue Toffee we've mentioned have finally been perfected, but we won't know until we've tested them. Won't be for a while, I'm afraid. Mum found out about our joke shop when she came to clean our room. Percy's still obsessed over Mr. Crouch. Ron reckons they'll be announcing their engagement soon.

Other than that, it's been pretty boring —

Harry couldn't read the scribbled out part, so he continued.

— so this World Cup should be glorious!

By the way, do you think your Marauders still have any ideas for our joke shop?

"Sirius, are we going to the World Cup or are the twins gonna have to sneak me in themselves?" Harry asked.

Sirius gave him a confused look and leaned over to read the letter. "'Smuggle you in ourselves...' Someone sounds eager."

"Well, it is an important event," Harry pointed out, conveniently not picking up the real meaning behind Sirius' words.

"That it is." A metaphorical lightbulb lit up in his head. "Say, Harry, you don't mind if I write back for you, do you?"

Harry and Remus looked at him with matching suspicious expressions.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"To help with their joke shop, of course." When Harry didn't look convinced, Sirius tilted his head. "Harry. Don't you trust me to be a responsible adult?"

Harry absolutely did not. "Whatever. Go ahead."

Sirius grinned and raced out of the kitchen.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Responsible adult... huh!"

Harry refrained from pointing out that Remus wasn't really any better.

Fred nearly leaped out of his skin when something whacked him on the head. He looked up to see Ginny standing over his bed with an envelope in her hand.

"A letter from Sirius."

"Not Harry?" He couldn't keep the disappointment from his voice.

"Not today. Don't worry, I'm sure your boyfriend's fine."

Fred sighed. Out of all of his siblings (besides George, of course), he really shouldn't have been surprised that Ginny had picked up on his growing feelings for Harry. But she had and now every time Hedwig came flying in with Harry's response, she'd give him a look or sometimes an exaggerated wink.

"Wonder why he didn't write," was all Fred said, opening the envelope.

"Well, Sirius is Harry's godfather," George pointed out, propping himself up on one elbow. "He probably wants to make sure his future son-in-law is not a troublemaker."

Fred stuck his tongue out and began reading. Then his face promptly went red and he threw the letter aside.

"Ooh, what did he say?" Ginny asked eagerly, going to pick it up.

"Oh, nothing important," said Fred, lunging for the letter. He let out a squawk as George leaped on top of him and held him down while Ginny read the letter aloud.

Dear Fred,

Do not fret, Moony and I will be taking Harry to the World Cup. Your smuggling skills, while no doubt impressive, are not necessary just yet.

As for your last question, yes, I'm sure Moony and I could think of something. Why don't you send in what you have and we'll take a look?

— Sirius

One more question: Do you have a crush on a certain messy-haired, green-eyed boy by any chance?

"Hm, I don't know, Gin," said George, rubbing his chin thoughtfully while Fred lay defeated underneath. "Do you think Freddie has a crush on a certain messy-haired, green-eyed boy by any chance?"

"That's a bit of a tough one, George," Ginny replied, head tilted as she studied the letter. "Fred?"

Fred raised his head, scowling into her grinning face. "Yes," he said defiantly. "Why wouldn't I? With his eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad —"

"Here we go again."

"And his hair as dark as a blackboard," George added.

"I was eleven!" Ginny grumbled.

Fred laughed, glad the attention was off of him (for once). "You really have gotten over him, then?" he asked more seriously.

Ginny's expression sobered. "Yeah. It was just a little kid crush. Harry's all yours — not that I have a say in the matter regardless." She jabbed a finger at him. "But you better treat him right or else you'll find yourself the test subject for whatever ideas Sirius has. And I'll be helping him."

Fred shuddered at the thought. "Noted."

Harry woke up in a cold sweat, hands pressed against his forehead. Fumbling for his glasses — he was still adjusting to not needing them any longer — he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed and exited his room.

His room. Not the cupboard. Not Dudley's second bedroom. His room. Despite the dream, Harry couldn't stop the smile from spreading across this lips. It had been a wonderful summer, much better than being back at Privet Drive. There, Harry had been forced to do all the chores and was only able to eat scraps and leftovers. Neither Sirius nor Remus had liked hearing that. They treated him more like the way the wizarding world had presumed the Dursleys had been, more pampered and spoiled. But even then, there were limits. But that was a small price to pay, and Harry thought they were fair, so he never complained. Not that he would; no matter how much Harry wanted to forget, the Dursleys had ingrained it in him that complaining would earn a punishment. For Harry, that meant being thrown into his cupboard, and later the second bedroom, and not eating for at least a day. At Grimmauld Place, though, Harry was starting to fill out, looking less scrawny with the healthier and more filling meals.

Harry knocked on Sirius' door. "Padfoot? You awake?"

"No, but I am," came Remus' voice. "Come in."

When Harry poked his head into Sirius' and Remus' room, Remus was sitting up with Sirius snuggled up into his side, hair covering his face and drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth. "Something wrong, cub?"

"I had a weird dream," Harry began. "Actually, I don't think it was a dream. It seemed more like a — a vision."

Remus' brow furrowed and he turned to gently shake Sirius' shoulder until the man snorted awake.

"Morning already?" he mumbled. Then he saw Harry. "What happened?"

"I think I had a vision," Harry repeated.

"Oh." Sirius patted the spot between him and Remus and Harry gratefully clambered onto the bed. "Do you remember what it was about?"

"It was Voldemort," sai Harry. "And — and Pettigrew."

Both Remus and Sirius tensed up. Pettigrew had been sentenced to Azkaban after being testified under Veritaserum, only to escape weeks later. To hear that he was with Voldemort again filled them with dread.

"Voldemort wasn't in his own body. I don't know, I didn't get a good look. But he mentioned not doing anything until after the Quidditch World Cup. And then Pettigrew said, 'It could be done without Harry Potter.'"

"What is that bastard planning on?" Sirius growled.

Remus had given up reprimanding his lover on his language, especially after Harry had come into the kitchen to see Remus on the floor, swearing up a storm after stubbing his toe. Sirius had mimicked Remus for the next hour. "Remus! Stop swearing in front of Harry! The next thing you know, he'll be using that language, too!" Only the threat of no cuddles had shut him up. Sirius needed his cuddles, dammit!

"So this year will be another one of those years, huh?" Harry hadn't really expected much else.

"I'm afraid so, cub."

Harry yawned.

"Want to sleep with us for a bit?" Sirius suggested.

"Aren't I a bit old for that?" Harry wondered, although the thought wasn't unwelcoming. He had never dared gone to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia when he had a bad dream.

"Nah, age is just a number for things like this," Sirius said, scooting over.

"That explains you," Harry teased as he settled down between them.

Sirius spluttered in protest while Remus laughed. "Moony! He's being mean to me!"

"I can see what you mean, Harry. He's definitely still a kid."

"I see how it is." Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You're both teaming up on me. Well, fine." He turned on his side, back facing them.

"Padfoot," Harry whined, shaking his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

"Ugh, fine. You're too irresistible," came the grumbled reply.

"Yay!"

Remus smiled at the two fondly. It had been so long since either of them, and him as well, have had time to act so carefree. Harry was naturally more solemn and was definitely much more mature than many of the other students, even those older than him — the Weasley twins were a prime example of that! — so seeing him acting his age was refreshing.

Harry fell back asleep almost immediately, a small smile on his lips.

Sirius ran a hand through Harry's hair. "Can you believe it, Moony?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just all this." Sirius gestured to them. "Us. I didn't think we'd ever be reunited."

"Neither did I, Padfoot. Neither did I."

They received their tickets to the Quidditch World Cup the next morning. Harry tried not to dwell on the fact that he was more excited to see the Weasleys than he was to watch professional Quidditch, but he knew from the look Remus was giving him he wasn't very subtle.

"So how are we going to get there?" Harry asked.

"Apparition," answered Remus, yawning behind his hand. "Brace yourself."

Harry did so, hand firmly gripping his arm. Then Remus turned on the spot and Grimmauld Place disappeared.

And then his face met the earth.

——————————

Previously, I had just added a throwaway paragraph telling you that Sirius had contacted Fred via letter. And I thought, That's boring. So I improved it. And made it longer.

Also, I wanted to add a little sibling moment between Ginny and the twins because dang it, it's underrated! "He got off!" scene ring any bells? (If you forgot, it's in the fifth book after Harry's dementor trial when he is cleared of all charges. They started doing some kind of war dance. If only they'd included it in the movie...)