Rough Waters |Sirius Black

Chapter One Hundred Two

With Harry's birthday in full swing, Nixie wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for the boy as he became of age in the wizarding world. But as Sirius had told the woman before, Harry was just thrilled to be in the presence of his family and friends. After leaving 4 Privet Drive, the boy had certainly tried to keep a smile on his face but the loss of Hedwig and Mad-Eye had definitely taken a toll on him. He blamed himself for what had happened, knowing they had died to keep him safe and Hedwig had just been caught in the crossfires, possibly never understanding that she was caught up in a war. With whatever awaited him in his life, Harry wanted to cherish the happy moments while they lasted. He wanted to spend moments with his godparents, celebrating his birthday at the Burrow with the Weasley family, in the company of those that had been looking out for him since they met him. 

It was incredible, to be raised by the Dursleys in such a hostile environment, they were related to him by blood but one would have never guessed it. But then there were the people that he had met for the first time and immediately treated him a million times better than the Dursleys. He had made his peace with his mother's side of the family somewhat, he almost pitied them in a way. After all, they didn't understand the world of magic, it was foreign and throughout their experiences with it, very harmful. Because of a prophecy revolving around him, people were in danger, people were risking their lives, and people had lost their lives. But what Harry didn't understand is, they weren't risking or losing their lives only because of him, they did everything they could to see a better day when the war was hopefully over.

"So many thoughts going through this head!" Harry found himself being shaken from his shoulders, only to snap out of his thoughts and see Nixie standing beside him. "Hi there, welcome back."

"Sorry," he said, " were you saying something?" 

"Only your name for the past five minutes, but you know, normally when I call someone's name they don't respond the first time. Did you see who I married? Still takes about seven times before it goes through fully."

Harry chuckled before she sat down beside him on the steps as the sun greeted the two on the Burrow porch.

"Seventeen," Nixie said. "Not to sound incredibly old or cliche for that matter, but I remember when you were just a baby. Goodness, Sirius and I met you when you were only a day old. How happy your mother and father were, how proud they were, you were and will always be their everything, Harry. You should have seen your father, James was telling us how to hold you, make sure that your head was supported. I'm sure Lily had drilled that into his head multiple times before we showed up. But they were so happy and you were happy-"

"And they asked you to be my godparents, the two of you," Harry smiled. "They made one of the best decisions, they were really looking out for me because they knew that you and Sirius would always be there for me with anything that I needed."

"We were also supposed to be your escape," Nixie laughed. "You know, we were supposed to be the ones you go to when you were in trouble and let you get away with things. Should have seen your mother in school, Harry, she was a natural mother in the making. Always taking care of Marlene and myself because there were days where Marlene and I could be absolute toddlers."

"So how did my dad go from being so immature to what he became?"

"Love makes people do crazy things, Harry. Your father was no exception but he was hard-headed from the beginning. He thought he could charm your mother with his usual antics and it took him a little too long but he eventually he realized that he was an idiot with how he went about things and finally, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, your father went from being an arrogant toerag to a gentleman. That's when your mother finally gave him a chance and it resulted in something great. Or rather someone."

She nudged him with an elbow bringing Harry to look down bashfully. 

"What about Sirius? I heard you couldn't stand him for the most part, well, that's if Remus tells the story, if he tells it, you were in love him from the moment you saw him."

Nixie rolled her eyes. "That man thinks so highly of himself, seems fitting that he was named after a star. Anyways, Sirius was very much like your father, very stubborn, very persistent, equally toeraggish. But there was something about the two, you know, it's hard to describe because while they did stupid, stupid things, you could always tell that they cared about the ones they looked out for. When people in school found out my lineage, no one was allowed to make fun of me, except for them, of course. But they would do anything for the people they cared about. I thought your father was so incredibly dense when he brought up the three of them becoming animagi to help Remus but it showed me that they really did love him. They made plenty of mistakes but eventually, they revealed that they were good people, Harry. When I finally saw that in Sirius, it just clicked. But by no means was it love at first sight, no matter how he tells the story!"

Harry enjoyed listening to more stories of his parents back in school, from how his mother used to force the girls to study which reminded him of Hermione and how his father was always there for his brothers, it reminded him of his friendship with Ron. It turned out to be a wonderful birthday, topped off with a watch given to him by Molly that had belonged to one of her older brothers along with enough knitted materials from Eleanor to clothe him for years to come.

"Happy Birthday Harry, as if you don't have enough knitted stuff from me!" Eleanor said handing him, her gift.

Harry smiled opening it to find all sorts of knitted materials, from socks to a vest and everything in between.

"I had to stop her when she thought about knitting you underwear." Fred joked.

Eleanor made a face at him. "I would not recommend knitted underwear, ever. What a terrible idea, it would be extremely uncomfortable, all hot and itchy-"

Fred covered her mouth. "It was a joke, Ellie."

"Oh...right," she said muffled through his hand. "I knew that. Still the thought of it..."

"Don't write it off yet, it could work as a good gag gift imagine finding them stuffed in your stocking around Christmas time," George added.

"KNITTED KNICKERS!" Eleanor shouted triumphantly causing the group to laugh.

Sirius shuffled awkwardly next to Nixie, bringing her to look over at him. "What's got you all worked up?"

"I'm just imagining knitted knickers and they sound dreadful!" Sirius said adjusting himself. "Merlin, that's torturous, just imagine how heavy they would be and thick and..."

"Calm yourself, Fluffy before you work yourself up into a frenzy. You don't even wear knickers."

"As far as you know."

She raised a brow at him. "Confessions coming out after all these years?"

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"I'm sorry I missed out seeing you in them after so long. Started wearing them before or after we were married?"

"In Azkaban actually," Sirius said dramatically. "Dementors are quite fond of cross-dressing. They don't get out much, Nini, we had to provide the entertainment."