Professor McGonagall glared at Seamus who was trying his best to look repentant and innocent at the same time, as he pleaded that it was not his fault that his default magic seemed to be explosions. Harry tried to look serious as he stood by watching the Professors assess the damage that had been done to the surrounding area, however when Seamus took advantage of McGonagall's turned back to wink at him, he could not suppress his laughter.
Luckily he was saved from the yelling Snape was obviously gearing up to do when the doors to the Great Hall slammed open, and Sirius strode in, Remus close behind looking a mix between mortified and excited.
"Sirius! Remus!" Harry squeaked excitedly before he rushed towards them as fast as he could, throwing himself at the two men who caught him in a hug between them.
"It's official! It's official, you are ours!" Sirius was beaming and it looked like he couldn't stop. Remus and Harry were not any better, and Harry laughed as Sirius stood bouncing on his toes excitedly. Suddenly there were a few more bodies added to the hug, and Sirius and Remus turned around bemused to see Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Seamus, Fred and George also hugging them all.
"We're so happy for you!" George and Fred beamed.
"This is so exciting!" Hermione nodded. Suddenly their whole group were bouncing again in excitement. At least until...
"Stop and desist right now!" McGonagall barked, and her students, current and old did as they were told straight away, turning with fear to their head of house. "Good, now part!" The let go of each other and moved to stand in a line. She nodded sharply, marched forwards and yanked Sirius and Remus into a hug that looked like it hurt.
Harry squeaked a little when she turned to him and before he knew it he was also being hugged. "Congratulations, the three of you," She smiled.
"Yes, congratulations," Albus smiled nodding to them.
"I am sorry to ask Headmaster, but could we maybe have an hour with Harry, to celebrate please?" Remus asked.
"Of course, though I will have to check with his teacher if it acceptable as well," Albus looked around.
"His next lesson is with me, his marks are more than acceptable that he can spare an hour, and I am sure Ms Granger will be more than happy to catch him up," Professor Flitwick squeaked before he patted each of their knees. "Congratulations boys,"
"Thank you, sir," Harry smiled brightly, snatching Sirius and Remus' hands and dragged them from the hall. Laughing as he dragged them to the Room of Requirement, they watched fondly as he paced up and down before a door appeared.
"I can't believe it, you're our son!" Sirius beamed scooping Harry up the moment the door closed behind them and hugged him tightly, burying his face into Harry's hair. He felt Remus wrapping his arms around the two of them, and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to soak up the warmth and comfort of the two men, his new fathers.
"So, what's the plan?" Harry asked once he was squished between Remus and Sirius on a sofa in front of the fire.
"Well, this weekend we have permission to come and get you, and we can go see the houses we picked out and choose one or two. We have spoken to Madame Burron, and she has signed permission for us to have contact with you every Saturday, even get to take you out for the day, while you are here for the rest of term. Then when summer comes you will come live with us," Remus explained.
"I never thought I would resent Hogwarts being required boarding before," Sirius huffed. "There will be some serious stuff in between all of this as well. We have the Mind healer set up, she will be coming to visit every Thursday night. Amongst this as well, you are going to need to make a few statements and speak to Madame Burron about the Dursleys,"
"Will you be able to be there for those talks and statements?" Harry asked uncertainly, playing nervously with the cuff of his robes.
"If you want us to be yes, of course," Remus assured him, hugging him into his side.
"I don't think I can really...talk about it, not properly, without you there," Harry admitted.
"Then we will be there, for every meeting," Sirius kissed his temple.
"Thank you, for everything, I used to dream about...having a family and a home, of being loved. Thank you, both of you so much," Harry rambled quickly.
"Thank you for giving us the chance to have a family and a home as well. You are giving us as much as we giving you Harry. We're going to be just fine," Remus kissed his temple.
Harry smiled softly snuggling into them as he listened to them discussing what houses they were going to view, and what they wanted. Sirius scoffed when Remus insisted that they needed a room for a library, Remus vetoed buying a niffler for a pet, Sirius insisted that they couldn't have a cat.
"Ok, what pet would you like Harry?" Remus asked turning to where he was watching them with obvious amusement on his face.
"Guys do you know I am a..." Harry drew off frowning down at his hands as a flash of worry went through him.
"What is it?" Remus frowned a little.
"I...I discovered that I have a magical skill that isn't normal in the wizarding world. I realised I could do it when I was eleven before I found out about magic, and with everything that happened after that, finding out about the wizarding world, coming to Hogwarts and starting learning, well, I kind of forgot about it. But then I was talking to the Twins and told them about what happened, and they...well they told me what the skill was and that it was normally associated with Dark Wizards, they advised me not to really announce it," Harry shrugged.
"Ok kiddo, want to tell us what it is?" Sirius smiled.
"I can talk to snakes," Harry said slowly, reluctantly. When they sat blinking at him he carried on. "I think the twins called it Parseltongue,"
"Oh, wow," Sirius nodded.
"That's..." Remus nodded as well.
"Are you...is it..."
"You could pull some amazing pranks with that!" Sirius grinned.
"I would love to see you do it, Harry, for research," Remus added.
"You guys aren't freaked out?" Harry brightened looking at them.
"I am going, to be honest, it is quite a shock, not something I was expecting to hear, and it will take a little time to get used to, but not in a bad way I promise. We're not about to start calling you Slytherins heir or anything like that," Remus promised him.
"I can bow to you if you want?" Sirius grinned. "Oh great Snake Lord! Hey, can you charm Slytherins like a snake charmer, that would be hilarious! Snape floating out a basket,"
"Sirius!" Remus scolded as Harry laughed.
"So...can I have a pet snake?" He asked hopefully turning Bambi eyes on the two horrified men.
"Hey, take this, it's a little chilly today," Seamus held out a jumper to Harry. The dark haired teen glanced out the window and saw that the weather did look a little off.
"Thank you, Seamus," Harry beamed tugging the jumper on. All his old clothes had been burnt in a Gryffindor common room late party with his friends. All he had was his uniforms and his few decent items of clothing. Sirius had promised he would pick him up a few things and post them in for him this week, and then they would have a shopping trip during the summer. It felt amazing knowing that he would never have to wear Dudley's hand me downs again. Until his new clothes arrived, however, he was a little limited for choice.
He snuggled into the warm green jumper that smelt of Seamus, the lingering background scent of ash and heat always there with the firebug.
"Ready to go?" Seamus asked wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Yup! I can't believe I am getting to go house hunting!" He beamed.
"I can't wait to come and see it. Between the three of you you all have very different tastes, this place will either be brilliant or chaos," Seamus laughed.
"Hey!" Harry protested laughing.
"Come on, let's get you down there,"
"Hermione and Ron still fighting?" Harry asked as he followed.
"I have ten to one odds she's going to hex him," Seamus grinned.
"Honestly," Harry rolled his eyes.
"So, everything go ok Thursday, I haven't really had five minutes alone with you with everyone listening in," Seamus asked, tugging Harry even closer.
"There wasn't really much that happened, I met him and we went over a couple of things to do with...them. He explained to me what a mind healer does, the mix of magic and speaking about things. We start properly next Thursday," Harry shrugged.
"How are you feeling about it?" Seamus asked.
"Kind of a little silly, and exposed, but at the same time, I know my head is a bit of a mess, and I need this to be better in myself," Harry sighed.
"There is nothing wrong with needing a little help to sort through your demons Harry," Seamus smiled squeezing him.
"Thank you," Harry smiled. He had been worried that his friends would judge him for needing to speak to a Mind Healer, but they had all just been relieved that he was getting help and support they had felt he needed. They were also secretly setting up to have little sleepovers and snack parties waiting, they weren't aware he knew yet. The thought of his friends wanting to wait up and be there for him in that way was just amazing to him. He had realised more and more how many people were surrounding him. "Really,"
"You never have to thank me, Harry," Seamus shook his head as they got to the front doors.
"I do, and I appreciate everything," Harry smiled kissing his cheek before racing down the steps to where Sirius and Remus were waiting for him, staring intently at the blushing Irish teen.
Harry grinned as he looked around the hillside that they had landed on. The last couple of houses had been disappointing, and none of them had really clicked with them. This one, however, caught his attention straight away.
They were right on the cliff edge with the sound of the sea lapping at the beach below. The cliff face was covered in long waist high grass with flowers growing in patches, a gravel pathway wound its way through the grass to the house. The House itself was surrounded by a waist-high white stone wall, a beautiful guilded gate allowing them entrance into the garden.
His eyes lit up as he took in the flower and fruit beds on one side of the massive garden, the other side had a large lawn with several cherry blossom trees growing in the centre, it would be the perfect place to sit in the summer and have a picnic. The garden was massive, winding around the back of the house as well from what Harry could see.
The House was three stories high and looked like a picture book cottage, there was a small porch leading up to the front door and the door itself was surrounded by roses casting a sweet scent to mix in with the salt air. Ivy grew up the front of the house, and white stone was revealed in the exterior of the building.
Stepping through the door, and the whole place just felt like home. Turning around in a circle he smiled at the homely place. The entrance hall was big enough to hold a circular table that currently held pictures of the current family living here, a little blonde haired girl with a gap-toothed smile ran up to the camera, waved and ran off again. Leading off from the entrance hall was a large carved wooden staircase, and a door to the right, one to the left and one down the side of the staircase.
"What do you think Harry?" Sirius asked softly.
"I really like it," Harry beamed turning to see similar expressions on their faces.
"Well, lead on," Remus motioned to the door on the left. Grinning Harry walked in and fell in love with the room straight away. A massive bay window overlooked the side of the garden with the lawn and the trees, there was a fireplace in the room, and so much space. Everything else had been taken out, and they could see the potential it had.
"This is perfect!" Sirius grinned spinning around.
"Maybe, we could, make a window seat there? Cushions and blankets?" Harry suggested softly.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! It would be perfect for reading!" Remus beamed before scowling playfully as Harry and Sirius groaned.
The rest of the house was just as beautiful, they moved from the living room to the back of the room and through into the kitchen. It was massive, with a large island in the centre, and a huge arga cooker was seated at the back of the room. Big windows over looked the huge back garden which had long grass and flowers growing wide in it, oak, elm, beech and willow trees grew in it as well. There was a small round table sitting near the back door.
They moved from there, passed the door which would lead out down beside the staircase, and into the dining room. It had massive bay windows at either end of the room, overlooking the gardens and flooding the room with light. A fire place sat in the room which would be wonderful lit in the winter months. Currently empty, with the size of the room they would be able to have a large dining table in here and still have plenty of room.
Upstairs held five massive bedrooms, each one with a different character and personality. Plenty of rooms for them, and for any guests. Harry stood in the room that he really felt something for, he could picture this being his bedroom and looked around with that fledgeling hope in his chest growing a little brighter.
"The room next door is amazing, definitely my bedroom, do you like this one?" Sirius asked curiously looking around.
"I really like this one," Harry nodded.
"I love the one across the hall, and there are plenty for when your friends come to stay," Remus nodded walking in. "Shall we check out the next level?"
"We could make the room at the top of the stairs into a library!" Remus said excitedly.
"And the one to the right of the stairs would be a perfect lab! I can make a start on creating things for my joke shop," Sirius nodded.
"I really loved that house!" Harry beamed.
"I think it was definitely the one," Sirius looked at the other two.
"Definitely, the others weren't even close. I can imagine us living there, having a home," Remus smiled.
"Shall we put in an offer then?" Sirius asked excitedly.
"Yes," Remus and Harry both nodded.
"Ok!" Sirius took out the card that the letting agent had handed them and tapped his wand against the house that they had been to view. The card flashed for a second and the listing turned red on the card and then the words pending appeared. "Now we wait," He sighed.
"What are you wanting to eat Cub?" Remus asked picking up the menu.
"What?" Harry blinked.
"Lunch? What do you want?" Remus asked confusedly.
"No, you called me cub," Harry said, a massive smile starting to form.
"Did I? I think I did it on automatic," Remus blinked. "Is...is that ok?" He asked.
"Yes," Harry smiled shyly. "I...they always had names for my cousin, little pet names, and even though they were horrific, I wanted someone to want to call me something like that," He added when he remembered the Mind Healer's advise on opening up more both with his feelings and with how he had felt with the Dursleys.
"You are our Cub," Sirius reached out and combed his fingers through Harry's hair. His words were firm and left no doubt in Harry's mind that he meant them, the smile on Remus' face as he looked at Harry confirmed it with him as well.
"So, Cub, what are you wanting?" Remus said.
Happily he picked up the menu and started reading through it, choosing what he wanted. They had the afternoon together and were planning on having a little shop after their lunch before Sirius and Remus returned him to Hogwarts.
Harry scrubbed his hand through his hair feeling more than a little stretched out after his session with the Mind Healer, it had been a long hour, and he realised now that it was going to be a little bit of a slog. He had a whole new respect for Sirius going through this, and still going through this, especially as he knew a large part of it was so he could adopt Harry and was part of the stipulations of the adoption.
The Healer smiled and said goodbye to him again before leaving the room. Sirius and Remus came and sat down on either side of him, pressing him between them in a hug. They seemed to be waiting for something, and once he relaxed enough Sirius pulled back and pulled a set of papers from his pocket and held them out to Harry.
Looking between them with hope he wondered if these were the papers for the house. They had been waiting to hear back from the letting agency. Nervously he opened up the papers and blinked down at the deeds to the house. Their house. Their Home.
He had a home.
"Cub!" Remus and Sirius both said in distress when Harry started crying. They hugged him quickly and started making soothing sounds.
"Did you change your mind about the house?" Remus asked.
"No, no I really want it still I just..." Harry sniffed rubbing at his eyes.
"What is it Cub?" Sirius asked.
"After talking today about everything, and thinking and remembering how unwanted I was, knowing that I have a home, I fianlly have a home with people who want me, a family, I have a home with family," He managed to say before tears took over again.
"These are happy tears, right?" Sirius confirmed.
"Definitely happy tears," Harry laughed.
"We can start making plans for what we want to do, thinking about decorating and furniture. We can use our visitation hours with you to plan, and on the weekends we can take you from Hogwarts we can go shopping!" Sirius said excitedly.
"Honestly, I think the thing that he has missed most when he was away was shopping," Remus muttered to Harry making the young teen burst out laughing as Sirius protested loudly about how cheeseburgers and his bike was right up there as well, Remus of course took mock offence and the two started squabbling, no doubt to make Harry feel better, and it was working.
He could not wait for the summer, and he could not wait to see the home that they would make together. He had never thought that he would have this, but sitting between these two men, looking at them he realised that he finally had that chance. And he would make the most of every single moment of it.
For the first time in his life he could not wait for summer!