Sirius whistled as he walked through the halls of Grimmauld Place. Cissy had taken Draco to the Swamp and that left him to spend the whole day with his godson without the brat around. He walked into the parlor and found Severus attempting to braid Harry's hair. The other man obviously had never tried before because Sirius had never seen so many knots before in his life.
"Sev, are you trying to tangle every piece of hair?" He asked, amused at his partner struggling.
"Siri! I think he's doing a good job!" Harry tried to defend him but his wincing gave him away.
"Don't worry pup! I used to braid Lily's hair all the time! I can even do some complicated ones." He bragged, sitting on Severus's lap to take over. After he managed to untangle everything, he did a fancy braided crown. His pup looked so cute!
"Let me go change and then we can leave!" Harry shouted before darting out of the room.
"Thank you darling. It seems my fingers just aren't cut out of such a delicate task." Severus said sadly, his hands on Sirius's hips. He gave him a leer and said "it's okay babe. I know something else you can do with your hands." He heard Harry's feet stomping down the stairs and he got up quickly. All he needed was another lecture from Draco about propriety. His pup was wearing denim shorts and an opened button up shirt with a white tank top underneath.
"Harry, is that Draco's shirt?" Sirius didn't know why he bothered to ask as Harry nodded. "He said I could wear it, don't I look cool?" He struck a pose, his hand flung in the air as the other one rested on his hip.
"Great pose pup! Like your old man!" Sirius told him proudly. James used to strut around their dorm in his favorite outfits, making all of the Marauder's laugh at him.
"Let's go!" Harry cheered and grabbed their hands.
~~~~~~
Harry loved going to Diagon Alley. Mr. Severus had to get some potions ingredients and Sirius said they could look at the pet shop. He followed his guardians down the street towards Knockturn Alley.
"Harry, make sure you stay close." Sirius told him. Harry thought the Alley was a little dirty but it didn't seem too bad! They stepped through the door to the Apothecary and Harry started to look around as Mr. Severus haggled with the store owner.
"Hello, daddy was really impressed with you tearing down a building in the name of love." A girl was talking to him, her eyes big and distant.
"Thank you. It was to prove a point." Harry told her, his back straight. He wasn't ashamed of what he did and he would do it again.
"Did you know wearing your socks inside out keeps vampires away?" She asked, holding onto her necklace.
"Really?" Harry was impressed. This girl knew a lot of stuff!
"My name is Harry, what's yours?" She gave him a startled look before saying "Luna Lovegood. Most people just call me Looney Luna though." Harry frowned at her nickname, that didn't seem very nice.
"Well Luna, if it's okay with your parents, do you want to come to the pet store with us? I'm going to try to convince Sirius we should buy all of the snakes!" She reminded him of Fleur with her blonde hair but her voice was misty, like she was half asleep.
"Daddy won't mind. He went to look for a Crumple Horned Snorkack." Harry didn't know what that was and he couldn't help but ask her. Soon she was telling him all about different magical creatures!
"I'd be happy to make you a charm that keeps the Nargles away!" Before Harry could reply, Sirius and Mr. Severus came over, done with their business.
"Who's your new friend, Harry?" Sirius asked, his voice resigned.
"This is Luna!"
~~~~~~
Draco felt something crunch under his foot and shook off the bone pieces he had stepped on. His Mother continued on and he followed her deeper into the Swamp. Most people assumed it was just a small plot of land but the Swamp was enormous. If someone ever got away, they wouldn't get far. Only a Black could traverse the Swamp safely.
"Draco, are you ready?" He gave his Mother a nod. They walked into the Swamp water and waited. Slowly bodies emerged from the depths and inferi crowded around them. He took a bucket from his Mother and started throwing the contents in the murky water. They had to feed the inferi once a month or they got testy. A hand grabbed his leg and he saw Dave, an inferi he named when he was younger. The man pulled on his leg again and he gave him more food.
"Merlin Dave, you're going to get fat and be unable to drag anyone down!" He reprimanded the man. Dave made a wheezing sound that he took for "Piss off"
"Oh Dave! Let me tell you all about Harry's present he gave me for my birthday!" The other inferi quickly disappeared until only Dave was left. He somehow managed to give them a betrayed look with half of his face missing.
"And his hair! It was beautiful." Draco continued on, ignoring his Mothers laughter. Twenty minutes later, he was talking about their upcoming bonding.
"Of course, he's everything I could dream of. That reminds me, what do you think of a summer wedding? Harry would look magnificent in the sunlight! Or a winter wedding? Imagine the snow slowly falling around him." Dave made a gasp before flopping around in the water. Draco just frowned at him and said "I won't fall for your fake drowning trick again, Dave! You're already dead." The inferi glared at him but continued to listen to him.
"If you're done torturing Dave, we need to go check on the lethifold and then we can leave." Draco perked up. Mandy loved hearing about Harry!
"Lead the way, Mother!"
~~~~~~
Lucius angrily slashed through the parchment. No no no! It was his second son's first birthday celebration with them and it needed to be perfect! He only turned twelve once!
"Remus!" He hollered down the hall and the man in question came in. He looked completely relaxed and Lucius spotted some bruising on his neck.
"I need your help! Also make sure you cover those hickies before Draco spots them. Severus told me his lecture on appropriate behavior would bore a nun." He said, rolling his eyes at his son's behavior. He would be singing a different tune once he and Harry hit puberty, Lucius was sure.
"Thank you so much. Now what do you need help with?" Remus replied, his voice dry. Lucius turned his frantic eyes on him and shouted "Harry's birthday is coming up and we need to plan a perfect party!" Remus closed the door and poured himself a drink.
"Alright, tell me what you have so far."
"Lucius! You can't kidnap Dumbledore and let the children throw eggs at him!" Remus said for the fifth time, his words slurring together.
"C'mon Rem! It would be fun!" Lucius was no better as he dramatically threw his arms up in the air.
"What if I bought him Gringotts? Harry likes goblins and he's so sweet he would probably give them a raise as their new boss." Remus squinted at him and actually thought about it.
"I think it would put him under too much stress, all that management nonsense." He finally said and Lucius sighed. He was right, that was too much pressure on his darling boy.
"I've got it! Muggles have this contraption called a bounce house! It's a soft material and children bounce on it!" Lucius hadn't thought of using muggle resources!
"Brilliant Rem! I can check one thing off of my list! Now let's talk about presents! I was thinking of bribing Charlie Weasley to sneak a dragon off the reserve. I know how much Harry loved seeing them." Remus laughed out loud, his voice echoing around the room.
"You're literally insane, Lucy!" Lucius gave him a wild smile and said "thank you, darling."