A Life More Ordinary

Grimmauld Place--December 25, 1991

"You didn't get to see even one unicorn?"

Harry shook his head, keeping his eyes on the carrot he was pressing into the snowman's round face.

"But Harry, why did you have to leave early?"

There was no way he was going to tell Hermione that he'd been sent home but since he really couldn't lie, he settled for at least half of the truth. "There was a rockslide--when Ollivander was studying a Hungarian Horntail on a mountain--and we almost got hurt."

Hermione stopped tying the scarlet scarf; her eyes widened but they narrowed just as quickly. "Sirius let you so close to a Hungarian Horntail?"

"Er..." Why did Hermione have to be so clever anyway?

"You went without permission?" Hermione asked with wide eyes. Harry sighed.

"Maybe... yeah."

"Harry!"

"I know," Harry said, irritated at her scolding tone. "I already got shouted at plenty."

"Well, I should think so! Sirius must have been terrified." She shook her head while Harry flushed. "You were sent home, weren't you?"

"Can we not talk about this?"

"Well, all right, Harry, but I hope you aren't going to be so foolish again," Hermione said, looking worried as she went back to the scarf. "That was really dangerous."

"I know," Harry said quietly. Hermione glanced up, and gave him a small smile.

She stepped back, nodding with satisfaction at the neat scarlet scarf. "It was really nice of Sirius to make those mirrors for my parents and me," she said. Harry smiled and handed her the pointed blue hat--Dumbledore had donated it for the cause; he was having tea with Harry's parents and the Grangers. "I can speak with my parents whenever I want now."

"He's been working on it since November. The magic is really tricky, he says."

"It's because my parents are Muggles," Hermione said with a nod. "Do you think the hat should sit straight or at an angle?"

"Straight; looks drunk the other way."

Hermione smiled and righted the hat. "The mirrors wouldn't have taken so long to create if Sirius hadn't spelled them so that my parents could activate their mirror even though they're not magical. Did you see how impressed Dumbledore was?"

"Sirius is brilliant," Harry said with a grin and Hermione nodded. "He saved me from being killed by the rocks," he said after another moment. It seemed safe to tell Hermione that now.

"He did?"

"Shoved me out of the way and cast Protego."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." They were quiet as they took turns adding chestnuts to make eyes and a grinning mouth. After awhile, Harry said quietly, "I think it was my fault that the dragon knocked all those rocks down."

Hermione paused. "Why do you think so?"

Harry shrugged. "It started screeching when I came into the clearing. It was standing on a ledge and it began pawing and it was even more nervous when Sirius came--that's when it happened." He moved one of the chestnuts so that the smile was more upturned than down. "And well, Ollivander wouldn't have climbed up there if he expected the mountain to come tumbling down on him, so it must have been me."

Hermione turned to him; she had her familiar thinking frown in place. "I suppose that might be true," she said slowly. "But you don't know, do you? Not for certain?"

"Well, no. They didn't tell me it was my fault or anything, but it's a funny coincidence; don't you think so?" He didn't know why it was so important but it was somehow. "I don't think they wanted me to feel worse."

"I broke my dad's leg once," Hermione said abruptly. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"You did? How?"

"My mum and dad were teaching me to ski last Christmas. I lost control of the skis and my dad tripped over me. He had a plaster all the way up to his thigh."

"But you didn't break a rule," Harry pointed out. "It's not the same thing at all."

Hermione sighed. "No, I suppose not."

Harry smiled at her and was about to thank her for trying to make him feel better anyway, but the back door opened and Sirius stepped out. "It's cold out here," he said, giving his arms a brisk rub.

"It's winter, Sirius," Harry said with a small smile.

"You don't say."

"Yeah," Harry said as he nodded. He gestured wide with his arms. "The snow's sort of a dead giveaway."

Sirius smiled at him and then turned to Hermione. "Is he this cheeky at Hogwarts?"

"Oh no," Hermione said earnestly. "He'd be given detention straightaway and Harry's never had detention."

Harry could tell his godfather was trying not to laugh as he nodded. "Well, I certainly am glad to hear that," he said and Hermione looked relieved.

"Look," Harry said to Sirius, who was still smiling. "We finished our snowman."

"It's lovely," Sirius said with a grin. He snapped his fingers. "Wait right here," he said and went back into the house. Hermione looked to Harry for an explanation but Harry could only shrug. Sirius came out a moment later, holding up a camera.

"Well?" he said excitedly. "Stand next to it and I'll take a picture."

"Oh! Will you give a copy to my parents?" Hermione asked as she stood to the side of the Dumbledore's snowy doppelganger. "They don't have a magical photograph yet."

"No? Well," Sirius said as he gestured with his head for Harry to move over, "we'll have to take on of all you together before you leave then."

Harry smiled at Hermione's huge grin.

"Say Merlin's pointy hat!" Sirius said and they did, both of them trying not to laugh.

--

"It mightn't have any significance at all," Albus said, still sitting in the parlor after the Grangers had gone home and Harry had gone up for his bath. "We already know that Harry will be a very powerful wizard some day."

"Very few powerful wizards are Parselmouths," Sirius said.

"Any wizard with the ability would not advertise the fact," Albus pointed out. Sirius frowned.

"It doesn't concern you at all?"

"It concerns me a great deal, my boy, but not for the reasons you are assuming." Albus shook his head. "Harry is hailed as a hero--as a boy more powerful than Voldemort was. It is just as easy to vilify him as it is to worship him."

"Harry didn't even kill Voldemort," Sirius said, grimacing his frustration. "It was Lily's sacrifice that killed him."

Albus smiled gently and Sirius was simply irritated by it.

"Harry saw several snakes just before Lily and James were killed," he said; he hadn't remembered until Remus had reminded him the day after the full moon. "James took Harry out because Lily wasn't feeling well and I suggested the zoo. We saw pythons and a boa constrictor. He didn't hiss at any of them."

"He was only fifteen months," Albus said, sounding surprised.

"He was talking a little by then," Remus murmured. "He was an early talker, I remember Lily saying. He said hi to each of the snakes."

"Hi was his favorite word at the time..." Sirius pressed his teeth together and blinked several times. Grief snuck up at the oddest of times. Remus put a hand on his shoulder blade and Sirius gave him a small smile. "If he was born a Parselmouth, it would have manifested itself then," he went on without another surge of sadness. "Wouldn't it?"

"I should think so," Albus said slowly.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance.

"Is it possible," Remus began hesitantly, "that Voldemort somehow gave that power to Harry?"

"Transferred any of his magic," Sirius added. "The same way Lily did?"

"But Lily's magic was transferred through her sacrifice," Albus said, shaking his head again. "A sacrifice of love, which Voldemort would not have been capable of; even if he had wanted to."

"But some of his magic must have gotten through," Sirius pressed. "Harry's scar is proof of that. He didn't come out untouched by Voldemort's magic."

Dumbledore stared at him. "Are you suggesting that Harry retains some essence of Voldemort's magic?"

Put that way, Sirius suddenly wanted nothing more to do with this conversation. "Is it possible?" he asked anyway; he wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

Dumbledore took a moment to answer, "Impossible is a Muggle convention."

"But what does that mean?" Remus asked quietly.

"It doesn't necessarily mean anything." Dumbledore sighed. "The idea is alarming because it implies that Harry has somehow been tainted." Dumbledore paid no mind to Sirius' objection to the word. "But as you pointed out," he went on, "Harry already has Voldemort's scar because Voldemort's magic hit him, but Lily's sacrifice stopped it before it could kill him. If some of Voldemort's magic did interact with Harry's before that, it means nothing more than it did a week ago."

Nonetheless, it was disturbing to think that such evil had touched their child. "If Voldemort wasn't dead," Sirius said tightly, "I'd kill him myself."

Albus said nothing and with a sigh, Sirius offered him more tea but the headmaster shook his head. "I should be going," he said. "I do have a gift for Harry, though. Give it to him for me, would you?"

Surprised, Remus asked, "Wouldn't you like to give it to him yourself?"

"I believe it would be better to open it without me," the old wizard said mysteriously and handed Sirius a squishy parcel, wrapped in gold paper. And then Albus stood, thanking them for the hospitality while Remus fetched his cloak.

"Oh," Remus remembered as he handed the heavy fabric over, "your hat is still outside. I'll-"

"I have plenty of hats," Albus said with a smile. "Too many, actually. Wish Harry a Happy Christmas for me, won't you?" And with that, the headmaster turned on the spot and was gone.

"What sort of gift is better to give without Albus here?" Sirius asked as he gazed down at the innocent-looking parcel.

"You guess is as good as mine," Remus said. He waved his wand to clear the tea service and then they went upstairs together; Harry was just coming out of the loo with droplets of water slipping from his fringe.

"Accio towel," Sirius said; he tossed it to his godson when a blue one flew into his hand. "Did you forget where we kept them?" he asked with a smile.

Harry made a face and scrubbed the towel quickly through his hair. "Is that for me?" he asked with interest as he spotted the parcel in Sirius' hands.

"Yes," Remus answered. "Hang up the towel and then you can open it."

Harry put the towel to rights in record time and Sirius handed the gift over. Harry made himself comfortable in the middle of his bed and tore the wrapping off.

Sirius and Remus gaped at the silvery fabric in Harry's lap.

Oblivious to what he was holding, Harry plucked a small piece of parchment from the center of the cloak. "It's from Dumbledore. He says this belonged to my dad!" Harry looked up at them, his young face full of excitement.

"It's an invisibility cloak," Sirius said, coming to sit beside Harry. "Your grandpa gave it to your dad."

"Yeah? What does it do?"

Sirius smiled. He lifted the shimmering, slippery material and draped it over his shoulders. Harry's eyes popped.

"You're invisible! "Your whole body! Can I try that?"

Sirius handed the cloak over and Harry was bounding up from the bed and in front of the mirror a second later.

"Cool!" he cried as he disappeared. "It doesn't even show my reflection! Look at that! Now my head's just floating there!" Harry laughed excitedly and proceeded to disappear each part of his body in turn. "Ron has got to see this! Seamus and Dean will love it too!"

Sirius caught Remus' eye and knew exactly what his husband was thinking. And Sirius was in perfect agreement.

"Harry," Remus said to their exuberant son, "you can show the cloak to Ron when we visit the Burrow tomorrow evening, but you'll have to leave it at home when you go back to Hogwarts."

Harry turned round; half of his body was still vanished. "But, I promise I'll take really good care of it; I won't lose it or anything."

"No, we know you wouldn't," Sirius said with a gentle smile. "But it's a very valuable artifact. And extremely old. It's not really a toy." He didn't add that an eleven-year old had no business having one; and Albus had obviously known neither Sirius nor Remus would approve.

Sirius could see Harry debating whether or not to argue, but after a moment, he sighed. "Yeah, all right. But I can show it to Ron?"

"Yes, you may," Remus answered.

"Can I show it to Ollivander tomorrow; we're still going to see him tomorrow, aren't we?"

"I'm sure Ollivander will be suitably impressed," Sirius said; he reached forward and tugged at the cloak, rearranging it so that only Harry's head was visible. "Bit creepy," he decided and Harry laughed.

--

"How come Ollivander asked you to help him with his books?" Harry asked as he and Sirius walked toward the wand maker's shop the following morning; Remus was with his editor and was going to meet the two of them for lunch when he finished.

"I offered a few weeks ago when he complained of not having enough time to keep the books the way he likes them," Sirius said with a shrug. "Mote used to do most of the bookkeeping but he's been accompanying Ollivander on his trips instead of staying behind. Besides which, Ollivander guessed I was bored," he added with a smile.

Harry didn't like to hear that. "Draco said the minister asked you to be on the board of governors--for Hogwarts. Maybe you ought to."

Sirius looked down at him in surprise. "How did Draco know that?"

Harry shrugged. "Dobby probably told him. Dobby tells him lots of things he isn't supposed to know."

"Such as?"

Harry tilted his head as he thought about that. "Mr. Malfoy went to visit some really old friends in Knockturn Alley, Dobby said. But then he started banging his head against a wall and saying he wasn't supposed to tell. I think Dobby is just lonely, now that Draco isn't home; I don't think Draco's parents talk to him much."

"No, I don't imagine they do." Sirius patted his shoulder; they'd reached Ollivander's and he opened the door and ushered Harry in.

"Wow," Harry said as he looked around the usually-chaotic shop. "Everything's so tidy."

"Your godfather has been busy."

Harry turned; Ollivander was just coming out of the back room. He wasn't smiling as he ordinarily was and Harry felt his stomach swoop. Ollivander looked him up and down and Harry had to force himself not to fidget under the frowning scrutiny.

"You missed an impressive group of young unicorns," he finally said and Harry felt his face heating. "I trust," Ollivander said after another mortifying moment, "that you've learned your lesson."

"Yes sir," Harry said quietly.

Ollivander squinted down at him. "What did you learn then?"

Heat continued to prickle across Harry's cheeks. "Well, er..." Ollivander raised his eyebrows and Harry straightened his shoulders. "To think before I rush off," he said with a bit of courage, "even if I'm trying to help. And Sirius told me I can't always help, even if I want to. But he taught me some important spells so when I'm older and know even more, I'll be able to help just like he did."

Harry's face screwed up in concentration for a second and then he nodded. "Oh, yeah, and I won't follow along where I'm not supposed to be; without permission. Remus said that being a wand maker can be dangerous so you have to know how to be safe and I wasn't being safe enough. I will be next time," he added earnestly.

Ollivander pursed his lips, studying him again and then he nodded curtly.

"I've saved one of the pieces of wood for you," he said; he smiled when Harry was unable to hide his surprise. "The one you helped carve. Would you like to help me put the core in?"

"Yes sir!" Harry said eagerly, all of his embarrassment vanishing.

"Well, come along then," Ollivander said, the usual gleam restored to his eyes. "You too, Sirius," he said impatiently. Sirius smiled and trailed after them. Ollivander brought Harry to his workbench, where the wood and three cores--under Suspension Charms--were waiting.

"Do you remember what type of wood this is?" Ollivander asked and Harry nodded.

"Yes sir; Ash."

"And ash is a rather springy wood," Ollivander said and Harry nodded again. "What sort of core do you think you might like to try first?"

Harry looked over the two unicorn hairs on display and then at the dragon heartstring. "The heartstring?"

With careful hands, the wand maker transferred the core closer to the wood. "Take out your wand," Ollivander directed. "You've watched me several times, and wrote an essay on the procedure," he said. "Give it a try."

Harry licked his lips as he recalled the long string of Latin that would allow him to transfer the heartstring to the wood. Without thinking about it, he reached a hand out and ran a finger lightly along the textured wood; he could feel Ollivander's eyes on him but the wand maker didn't object and Harry was too mesmerized by the feel of the wood along his skin to really care that maybe he shouldn't be touching it. His hand moved along, hovering over the heartstring. He didn't touch it and his hand drifted back to the wood.

Frowning, he looked up at Ollivander, who was watching him with narrowed eyes. "I..." He felt stupid but he said anyway, "It doesn't feel right."

For some reason, Ollivander clasped his hands together, his face lighting with excitement. He stepped back and gestured to the two unicorn hairs. "Which one?" he asked quietly.

Uncertainly, Harry stepped forward. He glanced up at Sirius; his godfather smiled his familiar encouraging smile. Harry lowered his fingers toward the hairs, not touching them but as soon as his hand passed over the shorter of the two, magic tingled over his palm. He smiled. "That one," he said positively.

Ollivander let out the breath he'd been holding and beamed. "Very well done, Harry," he said. "There are almost no wizards who can do that. Very well done indeed."

Harry's chest swelled at the praise; even more when he saw Sirius' smile. Sirius patted his shoulder and smiling now as well, Harry turned his attention back to turning that silent piece of wood into a wand.