"Da na da na da na da na na. There's a man who leads a life danger. Da da! To everyone he meets, he stays a stranger. Da na na da!"

Sirius Black hummed and sang under his breath as he crept through the castle, using every ounce of his considerable sneaking talents as he made his way up to Gryffindor Tower. Halfway there he stopped, realizing he was just repeating himself. He paused, considering what to do. He quickly did an air guitar solo.

"Cause I'm baaack, back in Black!" Happy with his new theme song, Black skidded up to the portrate of the Fat Lady. "Heya toots, I'm back! In Black! Siriusly."

The Fat Lady blinked a couple of times, wondering who it was. "Password?" she asked sleepily.

This gave Sirius paws. He changed into a dog to try and think. After a moment, he changed back and said, "Swordfish."

"No, the password is not swordfish," the Fat Lady said, frowning at the odd man in front of her. "Do I know you?"

"Of course you do, I'm Padfoot. Hmmm. What about Horsefeathers?"

"No."

"Password?"

"Definitely not!"

"Slytherin sucks."

"Not bad, but not right now."

"Snivellus drools."

"Ah, that brings back memories! But no, I changed it long ago."

"Well what did you change it to?"

"Oh, I changed it to fiat lux."

"Fiat lux!"

"Ha! It's been twenty years, I changed it again after that!"

Sirius growled, losing patience. "Tell you what, why don't you tell me what the password is now?"

"No. I don't think you are a student, you don't look like Longbottom at all."

"Hmm. Is the password, 'let me in or I'll shred your painting and shatter your frame?'"

The Fat Lady paled. "No, it is not."

Sirius got out a knife he'd stolen from the kitchens. "Really? What a pity. Maybe I'll have to do that." He paused. "Unless someone were to tell me the password of course. I've got some pest control to do, and a soulless monster to destroy."

"Help, help, murder!" The Fat Lady screamed.

There was a rip and tear, and the sound of a shattering frame, and a black dog bounded away.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"You failed!"

Sirius flinched, sitting in his cave as Voldequirrel paced back and forth, raging and gesticulating wildly. "I must have the blood of my greatest foe! It is the only way!"

"Well, I mean, they had some pretty insidious defenses, O Janus-Faced. I used every ounce of my cunning, but I couldn't get past them."

"Did you try asking nicely?" Quirrell asked.

"Fool! Asking nicely never works," Voldemort snarled. "The only way to get what you want is by forcing your foes to give it to you!"

"What if we just ask Hermione for her blood?" Quirrell suggested.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "She's not going to commit suicide just because we ask her to."

"No, I don't want her dead, i want her blood! It's the only way to complete the ritual!" Voldemort hissed.

"Wait, but you said-"

"I know what I said! Don't do as I say, do as I mean! You are, after all, my greatest and most powerful servant! You should know this."

"Er, yes. I do, in fact, know all your plots and schemes Most Perfidious One. This is due to our long relationship where I definitely served you and your interests so well you never even considered killing me."

"Good, good. Now, we have to find another way in. Hmm. What could convince a child to bring you into their dormitory where you could safely harvest blood and then KILL ALL THE WEASLEYS! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Quirrell sighed. "If only we had a cute animal of some sort. Kids are always taking those in."

Sirius scratched at some fleas. "Yeah. Cute animal. Don't know where you'd find one of those. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat some of that delicious food you brought. And really, you have to tell me, how do you keep finding my little hidey holes?"

"Oh, that's easy. I can sense you through your Dark Mark!"

Sirius clutched his right elbow. "Wait, you can? How?"

"We've just spent a lot of time in these caves," Quirrell confided. "Plus, how many giant black dogs are there in the Forbidden Forest?"

\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Harry was awakened early the next morning by the sound of thumps and banging. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, to find Fred and George merrily banging away with a hammer, putting up a variety of posters of scantily clad witches and the Marx Brothers (who Hermione had introduced them to, and were now their heroes).

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, groggily trying to make sense of the situation.

Percy walked in, dragging his own trunk behind him. He flicked his wand at the pinups, ripping them off the walls. "Stop that, use a sticking charm instead of those bloody nails. And none of those witches!"

"But this is more fun!" the twins protested.

As Percy started arguing with the twins, Neville appeared from the bathroom, carrying his various toiletry supplies. He hastily ran out the door, nervously glancing at the arguing Weasley brothers.

"Percy, what's going on? Why do you have your trunk?" Harry looked around the room and frowned. "And why is the twins pillow fort in here now?"

"They're moving in with us," Ron said, plopping down on Harry's bed and handing him a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. "Sirius Black attacked the Fat Lady last night, trying to break into the dorms."

Harry paled, pausing in chewing his toast. He swallowed and glanced nervously around. "Sirius Black? He was here?"

"Yes," Percy said, turning away from the twins were were sulking as they packed the lewd posters back in their trunks. "So, I had a talk with Professor McGonagall, and she agreed that it would be best if the Weasley House all stayed together."

"That include Penny old bean?" Fred called.

"Obviously not! She's in Ravenclaw."

A short time later, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny all joined the brothers in the newly swapped dorm. They were still staying back in their own dorms as the girls dorms had enchantments on them to prevent any males from entering.

"Wait, if no boys can go into the girls dorms, how come you can always come up here?" Harry asked.

Fred and George sighed and shook their heads. "It's the repressive matriarchy at work, Harry my boy."

"Yes, an ancient conspiracy of witches to keep the man down."

"It's mostly because no sane girl would ever try to steal a boys knickers," Ginny said, sticking her tongue out at her brothers.

Luna's eyes clouded over in a dreamy, thoughtful expression.

"Don't you dare," Hermione said. "Whatever you were thinking, don't you dare."

Classes that day were rather subdued, with students moving in packs through the hallways. Even Harry felt a bit nervous, despite the fact that as usual the Weasleys moved in a gaggle. The portrait of the Fat Lady was also replaced by an annoying knight who liked to change the passwords twice a day to overly long and complicated phrases. Still, it could have been worse: at least no one was actually injured.

Later that week, Percy put his foot down and canceled the traditional pre-match coin flip. "You're not getting out of my sight," he ordered Harry. "It's Ron's turn anyway."

Harry was slightly disappointed, but acquiesced to his older brother's decree. After all, it wouldn't be so bad watching with his siblings from the Weasley/Gryffindor box. The match itself took place in a terrible thunderstorm, wind whipping the field and rain pouring down. Hermione and Percy had cast rain repelling charms on Ron's robes before the match though, so hopefully he wouldn't get too cold and wet. The stands themselves had protective bubbles similar to a bubblehead charm on them to keep the worst of the weather off.

"How can anyone even hope to find the snitch in this?" Hermione half shouted. "I can hardly make out the chasers, let alone the snitch!"

"It will be all up to luck," Harry admitted. "Hopefully Ron finds it before Diggory does."

About a half hour into the game, the temperature seemed to drop. Fred and George pulled out small crystals from their pockets, which were glowing and vibrating.

"Dementors!" Percy shouted, drawing his wand. "Dementors on the grounds!"

"Expecto patronum!" Penelope shouted. She'd sat with Percy and the rest of the Weasleys, as Ravenclaw wasn't playing. A dolphin flipped and spun about in the air, swimming in a slow circle around the Weasleys. Three brooms and their riders crashed through the bubble barrier as Ron, Fred, and George landed and drew their own wands.

Harry found Luna's hand and clutched it tight, both of them shivering. He met Luna's eyes, and saw a reflection of his own terror there. He gasped, falling forward onto Luna as visions filled his mind.

Luna, laying on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, pale and unconscious as Tom Riddle gloated over her.

Locked in his cupboard, crying for a mother who never came as his empty belly rumbled.

A flash of green light, and a woman's scream as evil laughter echoed.

Fred, laying in a pool of blood. But this time, when Percy kicked him, he never stirred.

"Harry! Harry it's alright, we're here for you!" Ron said, rubbing Harry's back. "Expecto patronum!" Only silver mist shot out of Ron's wand.

Most of the Gryffindor stand had emptied, the bubble charm failing as dementors circled around. Percy's lion roared defiance, but it was wavering and growing weak as the rain and cold seeped into Percy's bones. Penelope's dolphin was becoming less well defined, seeming to fade back to mist.

"Oi, dementors, you looking for me?"

Heads swiveled toward the amplified voice across the quidditch pitch. There was an explosion of red fireworks, and the words, "Sirius Black, World Renowned Death Eater (and Ladies Man)" appeared in sparkling light behind a ragged, black cloaked figure. The figure turned and bent over, pulling up his robes to expose pale flesh which the man spanked twice. "Can't catch me you ugly bastards!"

With a howl to wake the dead, the dementors turned away from the students, rushing towards their new prey. The man vanished into the storm, and the cold around Harry lessened. He didn't release his grip on Luna though, who was sobbing softly in Harry's arms. It took Harry a moment to realize he was weeping as well, shuddering as sobs wracked his body.

"Right, come on, back to the castle," Percy ordered. He and Penelope renewed their patronuses as Fred and George picked up Harry and Luna, bodily carrying them back to the castle as Ron, Ginny, and Hermione lit the way and provided cover from the rain with their own spells.

Back inside, everyone huddled in the Great Hall, shivering and whispering as the teachers conferred with one another.

"I saw you dead," Luna whispered.

Harry flinched, looking down at the witch in his arms. She seemed so small, so fragile just now; her red hair hanging limply and her features devoid of the usual cheer and life. Her eyes were empty, not lost in thought, but a hollow reflection of the nothingness the dementors represented.

"I saw you, lying on the floor of mum's laboratory. I couldn't save you. Just like I couldn't save her."

Harry swallowed, tightening his grip. "I was back in the chamber. This time, I couldn't find the diary. Tom laughed and laughed, and the life drained away from you. But it wasn't real. You're real. I'm real. We're OK."

Harry glanced over at his siblings. Ginny was sitting between Fred and George, who were rubbing her back and whispering soothing nothings to her. Ron and Hermione were hugging each other tightly, their eyes closed in exhaustion as they rested their heads against one another. Percy rubbing Penelope's back, his expression grim and determined as his eyes roamed over the hall looking for threats. For her part, Penelope rested her head on Percy's chest, her hand gripping her wand so tightly Harry thought she might snap it.

"Students will return to their dormitories at once. There will be a full investigation into this matter," Dumbledore declared. "The quidditch game will resume at a later date."

"Who cares about quidditch," Ron grumbled. "We could have died out there."

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she gaped at Ron.

Ron flushed and shrugged. "When I was out there on my broom, all I could think about was that you needed me, and I was playing some stupid game instead of helping the people I cared about. I think I'll quit the team."

"Ron, you can't, you love quidditch!" Hermione protested.

Ron mumbled something under his breath, but Hermione went beat red and let out a strangled sob. She tilted her head up and kissed Ron on the cheek, making him go even redder.

"Percy, I have to go," Penelope said, standing and flipping her sopping wet hair over her shoulder. "I have to help my house."

Percy nodded, but took Penelope's hand one last time and squeezed it. "I know. But..." he hesitated, looking at his siblings. Then he looked back at Penelope and cleared his throat. "But you're family too. Just be safe." He leaned in and kissed Penny on the lips lightly, then turned back to escort the Gryffindor's back to the tower.

They walked back in silence, Percy glancing over at the twins. "What, no quips about my love life?" he said, his tone full of forced frivolity.

Fred and George glanced up at their older brother, then back at the rest of their siblings. "Not this time."

"We'll take a rain check."

"Oi, Angelina, you alright?"

"Alicia, are you OK?"

Everyone turned in early, the prefects not needed to enforce any kind of curfew. Hermione dragged her mattress over to Luna and Ginny's dorm room and no one commented. Harry went to his own bed, drawing the covers about himself tightly. Normally he found Ron's snores slightly annoying, but tonight he found them comforting. He drifted off to sleep, where his dreams were far less terrifying than the waking nightmares he'd experienced earlier.

/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Remus Lupin brooded in his quarters, staring into the fire, a glass of tea growing cold in his hands. Sirius Black. Brother. Betrayer. Criminal. Savior. Rubbing his eyes with his hand, Remus tried to figure out just what was going on. Why had Sirius Black attacked the Gryffindor Portrait? To kill Harry? For some other reason? Why had he revealed himself at the quidditch match? If he'd wanted Harry or his friends dead, he only needed to have waited. The wards and patronus' had been failing, even Remus' own patronus overwhelmed by a combination of the terrible storm and the presence of hundreds of dementors.

But he had revealed himself, and in a most spectacular and typical fashion. Remus' lips twitched involuntarily. Even having gone over to the enemy, Sirius still had his flair for the dramatic and pranks. Proclaiming himself defiantly and managing to moon the entire school, something he was certain his one time friend had wanted to do his entire life.

Lupin's smile vanished. But Sirius Black was no longer Lupin's friend. He was an enemy, a traitor whose reputation was as black as his name.

And yet... and yet he risked his life for no apparent reason, as if he wished to save the staff and students. Remus looked into the glowing embers of his fire, but they held no answers. Outside, the storm continued to rage, a fitting backdrop to the melancholy of the school.

/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Ah, professor Grubbly-Plank, a moment of your time," Snape said, closing the door behind him.

The substitute professor looked up at Snape from Lupin's desk, smiling at the potions master. "Yes, professor Snape? Need me to cover one of your classes?"

"No, just delivering lesson plans for you," Snape replied, setting a stack of parchment on desk. "Professor Lupin asked me to bring these to you."

"Oh? He left lesson plans for me already, just as he did the last two times," Grubby-Plank said, indicating the parchment's she had been reading.

Snape silently vanished the parchment. "Change of plans. He wants you to cover the subject listed here. The same for all years, to make your job easier."

Grubbly-Plank frowned, but picked up the parchment. Her eyes widened slightly. "Werewolves? Are you certain? That's not in any of the original lesson plans, we were to start Hinkypinks in third year and-."

"Do not ask me, I am not the one who assigns lessons for this class," Snape snarled. "Do you believe yourself incapable of discussing werewolves?"

"I should hope not! Magical creature are my speciality as you very well know, Professor Snape. Very well, if this is what Professor Lupin wants, I shall endeavor to do my best to teach the lesson."

Snape smirked and turned away. "Oh, I am certain it will be a most enlightening lesson." With that, he stalked out of the room in a swirl of dark robes.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"You know, I really wish we'd get lessons on something useful in Defense, like 'How to Slay a Basilisk' or 'Eight Easy Steps to Defeating the Dark Lord' or even 'How to Stop Insane Murderous Death Eaters," Harry complained as the Weasley's at together at the Gryffindor table.

"And ladies man," Luna added. "Don't forget that Black's also a ladies man."

"How do you even know he's a ladies man?" Ginny protested.

"The fireworks," Luna answered. "Fred and George told me about them."

"Hmm, I think we may have a cunning plan to defeat Black," George said, rubbing his chin.

Percy rolled his eyes. "If it involves anyone wearing a wig or a cocktail dress, I'm vetoing it."

"What if they have to wear a wig and a cocktail dress?" Fred asked. "Ow! Knock it off Percy!"

"That was me," Penelope said, sitting down beside Percy.

"What did you think of the lesson on werewolves?" Hermione asked.

Penelope frowned. "It seemed a bit odd. We'd learned about werewolves ages ago, it's not exactly a NEWT level subject. And that lesson was taught to every year."

"Maybe professor Lupin is really worried we'll get attacked by werewolves?" Ginny guessed. "I mean, it was the full moon last night."

Hermione dropped her fork and stared at Ginny, wide eyed.

"What?" Ron looked over at Hermione with a confused expression. "You should know that, we wrote our astronomy essay's together."

"Hmmm. He was sick last month too, and the month before. Maybe professor Lupin is secretly a lunarpath, and is helping Hermione's parents fight the werewolves who are part of the Rotfang conspiracy," Luna said.

Penelope paused her conversation with Percy and leaned over to the younger students. "Hermione, you don't think that-"

"I need to go to the library," Hermione declared, standing up, her expression pale.

Just then, Professor Dumbledore tapped his glass, and all the students quieted. "I have an announcement to make. Once more, those who wish to have a most terrible fate befall them are advised to stay away from the third floor corridor on the left hand side. The Weasley clan is also advised not to attempt to explore this area, or I fear we shall lose one of our most beloved members."

Everyone turned to look at the Weasleys, and at Hermione in particular, who was already standing. Professor McGonagall hissed rather like an irritated cat, and Hermione hastily sat back down.

"On second thought, the library can wait," Hermione admitted.

Fred and George nodded. "Too right, we've got a corridor to investigate."

"Not while Sirius Black is loose!" Percy snapped.

Fred and George sat back down with a sigh. "Well, I guess we'll just have to capture a world renowned death eater."

"And ladies man!"

Over the next two weeks, Harry eagerly anticipated getting to go home for the holidays. Unlike in years past, he was actually looking forward to spending Christmas with his family. The last year he and his siblings had foolishly stayed at Hogwarts in an attempt to thwart Lockhart's imaginary schemes (Percy, had of course, been petrified). This year getting away from the dementors and the threat of Sirius Black sounded like the best plan.

The ride home on the Hogwarts Express was the same as always, full of happy students eager to get away from school for a few weeks. The dementors thankfully did not search the train, though the Weasley's could all manage at least weak patronus' by now, though only Percy and Penelope had corporeal one still. None of the younger Weasley's had managed anything more than a mist or blob, but Harry had been comforted when Professor Lupin had told them that even weak patronus' cast together were much stronger.

At the train station Harry was pleasantly surprised to find Mrs. Weasley and Bill waiting for them.

"Well if it isn't the munchkin horde!" Bill laughed as Ginny and Luna ran up to hug him. "How was school?"

"Awful," Luna stated matter of factly. "The dementors do not agree with me: they keep chasing off all the nargles."

Ginny nodded, hugging her oldest brother tightly. "They attacked us, trying to get Luna and Harry! Percy and Penny held them off, but then Sirius Black appeared and they all chased him! It was awful."

Bill nodded, drawing the girls close. "I know. That's part of the reason I'm here. However..." he turned to Hermione and winked at her. "It would be nice to be reminded of where I used to live. I seemed to have forgotten." Bill bent down as Hermione whispered the secret into his ear, then stood and smiled. "Thanks. I just got in this morning, but I wasn't looking forward to missing mum's cooking!"

Bidding farewell to Hermione, Luna, and Penelope, the rest of the horde piled into the old ford angela. Bill turned out to be a much better driver than Percy was, and easily navigated them through the twisting streets of London while the others fought tooth and nail for a window seat.

"It's not fair, I never get the window seat!" Harry protested, shoving at Ron.

"Ow! Shove off, it's my turn now. Argh! Scabbers, don't bite at me, that was Harry's fault!"

Bill glanced in the back mirror, then turned to grin at his mother, who was nursing a headache potion. "At least I'm not back there joining in the row."

"Just you wait, William. In a few years, it will be your own children giving you a headache," Molly groused. "Alright that's enough! Harry, keep your hands off of your brother! Ginny, stop pinching Percy, he can have a turn at the window too! I don't want another peep out of any of you or there'll be no pudding for you lot tonight! Yes, that includes you Ron, I saw you shove Harry!"

The next morning, Harry sidled up to Bill after his chores were done. "Bill, will you take me to Diagon Alley? I'd like to do some Christmas shopping and I don't want mum throwing a fit about it."

"Sure, I've got a bit of shopping to do myself," Bill agreed easily. "That and I need to sign a few papers at work. I've put in for a transfer back to the home office. The way things have been, it would be best to be near family. Let me check my new wards first, I put them up last night and I want to make sure they're holding."

Harry and Bill walked around the Burrow together, Bill explaining how the wards worked and what anchored them. "Now, I'm not an expert warder myself, I'm a curse breaker. They're pretty related lines of work though as a lot of the curse breaking I do is taking down wards and such. So it helps to know how to do these things."

"What are wards?" Harry asked. "I've heard the term a few times but we haven't learned about them in school."

"Not surprised, warding is a NEWT level subject, you'll learn about it in Defense in seventh year I expect. Well, 'ward' is a catch all term for various charms, hexes, curses, and other spells that all serve the same purpose: defending or protecting something. Some wards are fairly common, like muggle repelling charms or Notice-Me-Not charms that we put on a lot of magical stuff to keep the muggles from seeing it. Other stuff, like the Fidelius charm, is much rarer and more complicated."

Bill pointed to a tree stump where a series of runes had been burned into the wood. "The most common kinds of defensive wards are just charms that alert you to someone disturbing something, like a person picking up a warded object triggering an alarm of some sort or entering or leaving an area. There are more dangerous and powerful charms like the ones I put up here too. This here is a spell that will prevent anyone with intent to harm the occupants of the burrow from entering. I cast it around the whole property, and anchored it using these runes. You're taking ancient runes right? Recognize any of these?"

"Yeah, I think so, but this looks a lot more advanced than anything we've learned. We're still just going over all the names of the runes and how they can be used to transcribe simple spells."

"Sounds about right. I didn't put up anything really nasty over the Burrow since it wouldn't do for any of them to be triggered by the twins' pranks or you lot playing quidditch, that can happen sometimes. Plus, the Fidelius Charm is pretty powerful. Hermione did a good job. I'm really impressed, that's a fairly complicated bit of magic. Well, this all looks to be in order. Ever apparated before, Harry?"

"No, but I've seen mum and dad do it before sometimes and Percy was apparating everywhere towards the end of summer when he got his license once we got back from Egypt."

"Well, just take my hand and try not to hold your breath. I'll warn you, you're likely to get sick when we arrive. Don't be embarrassed, it's just very disorientating and sometimes people have a strong reaction. Mum hates apparating, she gets very ill whenever she apparates."

Bill held up his wand, and Harry felt as though he was being twisted and turned. A moment later, they appeared behind the Leaky Caldron, though for a moment the world seemed to keep spinning to Harry. He shook it off though and grinned at BIll. "That was pretty fun! Can you teach me to do that?"

"Ha! Maybe someday kid, when you're old enough. Apparating is fairly dangerous and complicated."

The first stop was Gringotts, where Bill conversed with the goblins in their own language, showing Harry some formal greetings and introducing him to several high ranking goblins. Bill took Harry down to his own personal vault, which while modest did have a decent pile of galleons in it.

"I save most of my money, been putting it away to get a place of my own someday," Bill explained. "Of course, it also comes in handy when I'm buying a cartload of presents for all my brothers and sisters. You lot keep multiplying somehow."

When it was time to visit Harry's own vault, he was slightly embarrassed at the huge pile of coins that was many times larger than Bill's own vault. His older brother whistled in appreciation. "I'd heard the Potter's were rich, but it's something else seeing it. You might be able to live the rest of your life off of this, Harry."

"Well I don't want to," Harry said, kicking at a stack of knuts and sending the coins ringing onto the stone floor. "I wish mum and dad would take it. Then they could afford some nicer things for everyone. They already gave me what I really wanted: a family."

"Hmm. Let me guess, they categorically refused to do any such thing. I tried sending them a bit of money from time to time, but they always sent it back. Weasley pride. We do stubborn like no one else." Bill shook his head and helped Harry put a large number of galleons in a bag.

"The twins have been helping me sneak galleons into mum's purse," Harry admitted. "Good thing she's terrible at maths, or she'd have noticed by now."

When Harry tried to give Bill his own bag, Bill shook his head. "Oh no, I'm just as stubborn and prideful as mum and dad. Besides, you saw my vault: I'm not exactly destitute, and it is just me that I need to take care of."

Shopping with Bill was a lot of fun. He wasn't quite as much of a quidditch nut as Charlie was, but he did have a good eye for bargains and had learned to haggle like a champion while in Egypt. He helped Harry get new robes for all his siblings, a nice pair of shoes for mum, and took Harry over to a muggle shop to buy his father a battery operated radio.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Harry asked Bill as they sat on a bench, eating pasties they'd bought from a street vendor.

"Hmmm. Don't know really. Why don't you make me something? I've heard you're quite the cook."

"Ok, I'll think of something," Harry agreed.

On Christmas day, Harry got up early with the rest of the family, gathering around the tree for presents. He happily donned his jumper along with the rest of his family, and was quite pleased to see packages for Hermione and Luna under the tree that contained jumpers for them as well.

"Hey, where did this come from?" Harry asked, holding up a broomstick shaped package. "It says its from my dogfather, but I don't know who that is."

Bill frowned at it, taking it and passing his wand over it. "Don't know, but it's not cursed, at least not just from opening it. Go on Harry."

Harry tore open the packaging and let out a shout. "A Firebolt! Ron, GInny, it's a Firebolt!"

"A Firebolt?" Ron and Ginny crowded around, stroking the dark broom shaft and making awestruck noises.

"Right, give that here," Bill ordered, snatching the broom away and eyeing it. "I don't know where this came from, but none of you are riding it anytime soon."

That brought a chorus of protests from Harry, Ron, and Ginny, but mum and dad quickly put an end to it.

"Harry, that broom could be from anyone, even Sirius Black. What if he's cursed the broom to fail just as you're flying high or going quickly? You could be hurt or killed. Let Bill check it over."

"It won't take me more than a day or two," Bill promised, taking the broom out to their fathers shed along with the cake Harry had made him. "I do this sort of thing for a living after all."

Despite his disappointment, Harry turned back to the rest of his gifts, which suddenly seemed fairly lackluster. Ron had given him second hand dragonhide seeker gloves, Ginny a woolen cap, Fred and George a book of Knock-Knock Jokes, Percy a box of self inking quills, and Bill a new trunk he'd personally enchanted to store many times what a normal school trunk could contain while only weighing half as much as a fully loaded regular trunk. It was all very nice, but Harry couldn't help think of the Firebolt out in his father's shed. He sat morosely in his sweater, trying not to sulk and imagining soaring through the air on the world's fastest broomstick.

"Harry dear, you have one more present," mum said, coming over and handing him an envelope.

His father sat on the other side, smiling and putting a hand on Harry's shoulders. "It's no Firebolt, but we hope you'll like it."

Harry sighed and opened the envelope, expecting a bit of nice parchment or some pictures. Instead, he found several legal forms on plain paper, typewritten in black ink. Confused, he started to read through them.

"This document certifies Arthur Ignatius Weasley and Margaret Ginerva Weasley as the legal parents and guardians of Harry James Weasley, formerly known as Harry James Potter."

Harry stopped, his mind slowly turning. He suddenly dropped the paper, jumping onto his mother and trying to hold back the tears as he hugged her, all thought of the Firebolt forgotten.

"You adopted me!" Harry cried, hugging his parents, his real parents now, as tightly as he could. "We're really a family now!"

"Well, we just wanted to make it official is all," dad said, hugging Harry tightly. "You've been our son for more than a year now, it just took us a while to get it through the muggle court system."

"This is the best Christmas present I've ever had," Harry whispered, drawing back and wiping the sleeve of his jumper across his streaming eyes and nose.

Mum smiled, her own eyes red and puffy. "Even better than a firebolt?"

"Loads."