"So this is how freedom feels!" Sirius stated as he joined Harry and Remus, who had both waited behind to meet up with him after the trial.
The final verdict was a little more than an hour ago now, but Sirius was just now meeting them after he apparently scrubbed off a decade of living in Azkaban, and changed out of his prison uniform into new robes. And then he had to deal with the reporters and their questions regarding the trial.
"You still look like a stray dog though." Remus told him jokingly, before the two men embraced as they clapped each other on the back.
"Freedom suits you." Harry said as he looked Sirius up and down.
"And I have you to thank for it." Sirius said as he clapped Harry on the shoulders, his expression showing pure gratitude as the stress of Azkaban seemingly lifted from his body. But there were still shadows of his experiences in his eyes and expression.
"Enough about that then. Let's go so we can celebrate." Remus said while looking towards the Floo chutes meant for leaving.
"Where to? The Three Broomsticks maybe?" Sirius asked with a hopeful tone as he mentioned the place, which caught Harry's interest.
"Perhaps we should return to my office briefly first." Said a new voice, prompting all three of them to turn and see Albus standing there, a jovial twinkle in his eyes.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius stated suddenly, in the most polite tone Harry had heard from him yet.
"I am pleased to see you enjoying your freedom Sirius, but I believe there are some matters we should attend to before you start to celebrate. Especially with the four of us present." Albus glanced at Harry as he said that, making the topic of the discussion clear as Sirius and Remus both nodded in agreement.
"All right then. The headmaster's office, and THEN to The Three Broomsticks. At least I'm not going there because I'm in trouble this time." Sirius said with a smirk, before the entire group headed towards the Floo chutes.
A short while later saw them all seated in Albus's office after he conjured another chair for Sirius, putting him and Remus on either side of Harry as they sat in front of the desk.
"Now then. Harry, will you please do the honors?" Albus asked him, and Harry went into a discussion about his past yet again that day for Sirius, as well as his end goal of destroying Voldemort once and for all. By the time Harry was done, Sirius was gaping at him in disbelief between looking between Albus and Remus, expecting one of them to say 'surprise!'
"I knew I missed a lot of your life, but this is outrageous..." Sirius uttered as he put his head down between his knees.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it myself." Remus commented in agreement on Harry's other side.
"If you'd like I can show you two a few memories once my Pensieve is finished." Harry offered, as that was one of the reasons he figured he'd build one anyways. Why bother telling people about his exploits when he could just show them?
"If you want, you can use mine for the moment instead." Albus readily offered as soon as Harry mentioned it.
"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Harry asked with an exasperated voice.
"Of course." Albus immediately confirmed with no sense of shame.
Harry just shook his head in exasperation, before saying, "Maybe another time. I don't want to drag down or take away from the celebration." Albus slumped slightly in disappointment.
"So Harry's past aside, what does that have to do with us here and now?" Sirius asked.
"Actually, even if Harry is an adult on the inside, he still looks like a child on the outside. Because of that, I doubt the Ministry will accept him living by himself. And Harry refuses to live with his aunt and uncle further."
"!!!"
"I accept!" Sirius immediately declared, apparently already knowing where this conversation was headed.
"Is that so? Well then Harry, that is one problem of yours solved." Albus stated while looking at him.
"Cool. Looks like I WON'T be committing a double murder this summer." Harry replied, only half joking.
"Right, I'll have to get a place put together before the school year ends. Though that means we probably won't be able to spend Christmas together..." Sirius muttered to himself while apparently ignoring Harry's comment about murder.
"That won't be necessary." Harry said to him, making Sirius look up at him questioningly.
"Back when I first visited Gringotts, and Albus handed control of my assets back to me, I commissioned the rebuilding of Potter manor on my estate. In a few more weeks the house should be done, and I planned to spend Christmas break arranging the interior and purchasing a few house elves to maintain it when I went back to school."
Both Sirius and Remus gaped at Harry in disbelief, before the former broke into a wide smile.
"Perfect! I always loved going to the Potter's as a kid, and was sad to hear that Voldemort destroyed the estate while looking for you and your parents." He declared happily.
"I don't know how the estate was before, but the house I'm having them build is similar in structure and aesthetic to what I built myself in Skyrim. I also plan to put up some pens and such for some livestock, specifically for fresh eggs and milk every day. I also have plans for a field, fishery, a few beehives, and even a greenouse. At least this time around I won't have to be defending them from wandering giants and bandits. Right?"
Harry looked pointedly at the three men as he finished speaking.
"No, we do not have wandering giants here in Britain." Albus replied with a bit of a chuckle.
"Just watch out if Moony here decides to come around during a full moon!" Sirius barked out a laugh as he reached over to slap Remus on the back.
"Moony?" Harry asked curiously.
"Nicknames we all had in school for one another." Remus quickly explained.
"Mine was Moony because, well I'm sure you understand. Sirius here was Padfoot because his animagus form was a large black dog. Peter was Wormtail because he was a rat. And finally we called your father Prongs due to the fact that his form was a stag." As Remus spoke, both he and Sirius got faraway looks in their eyes as they seemingly reminisced of days long gone.
"Is that why you called me 'pup' as a baby?" Harry asked Sirius suddenly, recalling his vision when he returned of Sirius giving him candy.
"Yeah actually. How'd you know that?" Sirius asked.
"I was shown a few visions when I returned here from Skyrim, including the final moments of my parents and glimpses of my life before I ended up over there. One of them was of you giving me a piece of candy while telling me not to tell my parents."
A sad look appeared in Sirius's eyes as Harry told him of the memory.
"I do miss those days terribly..." Sirius said while looking away pointedly.
No one said anything for a moment as he tried to compose himself, before Albus suddenly clapped his hands.
"I believe that is enough talking of the sad things we've endured in life. Celebration is in order if there is nothing more for us to discuss, and I'm sure that madam Rosemerta will have a room for you Sirius. At least until the manor is complete."
"Right!" Sirius exclaimed while leaping to his feet, obviously excited for something to eat and drink that wasn't prison food.
The trio bid Dumbledore farewell before they Flooed to The Three Broomsticks to spend the rest of their day eating, drinking, and sharing stories.
***
The next few days that passed were relatively uneventful as things fell into their routines.
When he wasn't in class Harry was either working on his own crafts, training his body, or going through his lessons regarding magic from Nirn and close combat. He had even upgraded everyone from fists to wooden swords, as they could wield them in one hand while holding their wand in the other.
And unsurprisingly, none of them had yet managed to knock Harry on his arse when they sparred, meaning the now hundred Galleons prize he was offering was still unclaimed.
One big difference in Harry's daily life was the letters he was getting from either Sirius or Remus practically daily now.
As Albus suggested, Sirius was staying at The Three Broomsticks until Potter manor was rebuilt, and he was taking the time to get his affairs in order now that he was out of prison. To start with, Sirius needed to determine the assets that he had as the head of house Black, which had gone unmanaged ever since his father and mother died.
That apparently involved going through the house he owned and was raised in, which Sirius repeatedly expressed his DELIGHT in doing so. Obviously, Sirius had no intention of actually living there at any point in the present or future, but it was still something he had to do.
As for Remus, the werewolf was currently traveling in search of work since he refused to mooch off of Sirius's kindness. Something Harry felt he could understand after spending so much time amongst the prideful Nords of Skyrim.
"Hmmm...." Harry hummed in contemplation as he leaned back in his seat in the Great Hall, having just read Remus's latest letter.
"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked him curiously.
"I'm thinking about Remus, and what I can do to help him..." Harry replied as ideas swirled in his head.
The obvious root of literally every problem Remus had was his lycanthropy, but there was nothing Harry could do to help that. Even though he still has the heads of the witches from the Glenmoril coven, they wouldn't work for Remus since it was entirely different strands of lycanthropy. Hell, Harry wasn't even sure if they worked in this world at all.
On the other hand, there was the blood Aela left him. Even if he was still a werewolf, Remus would at least be able to control his transformations and himself when he was transformed.
But Harry was reluctant to go that route due to the fact that the blood could very well be the last he ever received from his wife. There was no way in hell that he would just give it away if there was another choice.
Unless...
"Give it back Malfoy!" Neville suddenly cried out, drawing Harry's attention as he noticed Malfoy dancing around with something in his hand that Neville was trying to get back.
"Oy!" Ron declared as he and the other Gryffindor boys made to stand up. But before any of them could do anything, Harry used his Telekinesis spell to pull the object out of Malfoy's hand. A small glass ball.
"This yours Neville?" Harry asked the other boy lazily.
"Thank you Harry!" Neville exclaimed as he accepted the ball from him, before shooting Malfoy a dirty look.
Harry felt so proud of him as he recalled the little crybaby Neville was just two weeks ago.
"Potter." Malfoy sneered at Harry, even as he turned back to his breakfast.
"Better watch yourself Draco." Harry said, right as a certain figure approached them.
"Is there a problem here gentlemen?" Asked McGonagall in her usual stern tone.
"No ma'am, just visiting." Draco said as he tried to act innocent.
"Malfoy took the Remembrall my gran just sent me. Harry got it back for me." Neville quickly piped up, earning him a glare from Draco.
"Did not. I was just looking at it." Draco said defensively.
"Taking items that don't belong to us is a serious offense at Hogwarts. Ten points from Slytherin Mr Malfoy. And if I catch you taking someone else's items again, it will be detention and a letter to your parents."
Her verdict declared, McGonagall turned on her heel and made her way to the high table for her own breakfast, leaving a red-faced Draco.
"This isn't over." Draco growled quietly, before stalking away as Crabbe and Goyle followed him.
"The little weasel." Ron snorted as they all watched him leave. "I was gonna wail on him too!"
"Yeah. That's why I stopped the situation. Otherwise you would have been the one getting in trouble for beating up another student." Harry said without looking up from the morning paper. There were still some mentions of Sirius's case a week ago, but nowhere near as much now.
"But he deserves it!" Ron cried indignantly.
"It's not about whether or not he deserves it, but time, place and occasion. Rather than defending someone, you could just make it look like you wanted to beat someone up."
"Or maybe they shouldn't be getting into fights at all!" Hermione interjected hotly. "Honestly, I don't get why boys are so quick to get into fights!"
"""Because it's fun.""" Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus all said at the same time, while Neville looked away pointedly.
Soon enough it was time for class, prompting Hermione and the others to rise as they prepared to go to Potions.
"Are you coming Harry?" Hermione asked him.
"You know I'm not." Harry replied without looking up, pulling parchment, ink and a quill out of his bag instead to write some responses to Sirius and Remus.
"You know Snape is just going to dock us points again if you're absent." Hermione pointed out.
"And YOU know that Snape will look for any excuse to dock me points anyways if I go. I'm actually probably saving us points by not going." Harry retorted, and not even Hermione had a response to him as she left with a huff.
Smiling wryly, Harry quickly finished scribbling out the two letters, telling them both about how he was taking his first flying lesson today in the afternoon. Once that was done, he packed up his stuff and headed up to the Owlery to find Hedwig.
"Up for a flight girl?" Harry asked her, to which Hedwig stuck her leg out professionally as he tied the two letters into place.
"Thanks. I'll bring you a few rats later." Harry said, before Hedwig spread her wings and took off to make her delivery.
With that done, Harry decided to see a professor about certain project he wanted help on, and made his way to the greenhouses. A quick Detect Life spell told Harry that the person he was looking for was in greenhouse four, one of the ones with the more dangerous plants, with a class.
*Knock knock knock*
"Yes?" Professor Sprout asked as she stuck her head out of the greenhouse, only to find Harry standing outside waiting for her.
"Mister Potter? Shouldn't you be in class with proessor Snape right now?" She asked with confusion on her dumpy face.
"I have an arrangement with Albus. May we speak professor?" Harry asked politely, since he was interrupting her class.
"I am sorry mister Potter, but I cannot abandon my students for you." She said before moving to close the door.
"But I have this flower here, and was wondering if you could take a look at it for me." Harry quickly said, pulling said flower out of his bag.
"Mister Potter..." Professor Sprout began, before she caught sight of the flower Harry was holding.
"What on earth is that...?" She uttered in a quiet voice while gingerly taking the flower from Harry.
"Its called a Gleamblossom. And as for how I got it, well its a long story." Harry told her while enjoying the sight of the professor examining the flower from every angle.
"Get in here!"
The next thing Harry knew he was being dragged into greenhouse four where the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fifth years were having their class.
"Change in plans class! Today we will be examining this flower that young mister Potter brought us!" She declared while showing them all the Gleamblossom, which seemed to glow with a slight blue iridescence.
"When you're done with that one, I also have all of these." Harry said as the class gathered around the professor, pulling several herbal Alchemy ingredients from his bag. Everything he had that was growable, from Canis Root, Imp Stool, Jarrin Root, and even Harrada from the Deadlands.
"I was wondering if you could help me try to cultivate these." Harry added as professor Sprout went wide-eyed from all the new herbs that she had never seen before.