"Alright, let's get your school supplies before we head back," Sirius announced as he patted his godson on the back.
"Yea, totally forgot about that," Harry answered as he took out from his pocket the list that of the school supplies he would need for the upcoming year. One item on the list that perplexed him was a Dress Robe. Harry had no idea why he needed that, or what a Dress robe even was, but Sirius did say he knew where to get one.
"Alright let's get going," Sirius said, "we are running out of time."
The first stop their small group stopped at was Eeylops Owl Emporium, there they got treats for Hedwig which was well deserved, new toys for her to play with, cleaning supplies for her talons, becks, and feathers, plus a new bird stand.
Next it was to Scribbulus Writing Implements where they got all the quills, ink, and parchments he would need for the school year. Turning the quills in his hands Harry lamented about the fact that the wizarding world didn't have the much easier to use writing utensils of pen and paper. Pausing Hary wondered why he couldn't invest into that, he would be making himself a pretty penny and would make his school life much easier. Storing that thought for later, Harry set it aside and carried on with his shopping. He could put more time into it latter.
After that it was to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary where Harry got all the magical ingredients he would need. As the shop owner was passing him his packaged items, Harry's stomach turned as he thought of where the ingredients had come from. It was a sad reality that the wizarding world was built on the enslavement and slaughter of other magical creatures and it was not something that could be broken easily at all.
Following that, it was to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment where they got all the implements and tools of the day. Mostly though they were getting equipment that was needed for astronomy class whether that me telescopes, star charts, or globes.
After that they went to Potage's Cauldron Shop where they got Harry a new cauldron, flasks, and other potion supplies.
Later it was to Omar's Wand World a shop that sold wand accessories and supplies; there Harry got a wand holster, and some cleaning supplies to keep his trusty wand in pristine shape.
Subsequently, it was to Quality Quidditch Supplies where Harry got all the broom supplies he would need to keep his firebolt in tip-top shape.
Then it was to Zwentibold's Shimmering Sorcery a store that sold strange, and unusual items there they picked up another mysterious package this time from Mrs. Tonks. After that it was to Pilliwinkle's Playthings which was a store specialising in wizarding golems, puppets, and automaton there they picked up their third mysterious package and this one from Tonks. Finally, it was to Concordia and Plunkett Musical Instruments which as its name said sold musical instruments and there they picked up Lupin's package.
Afterwards they made their way to Twilfitt and Tattings a more upscale wizarding clothing shop than Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. There they got the Dress Robes that was listed on the shopping roll which was a basically a formal wear robe, Sirius picked up a fine black colored Dress Robe with a green lining that matched his eyes well which was made of Acromantula silk and had temperature charm and a cleaning charm placed on it. There they also got fine, flowing robes made of Lethifold and winter cloaks made of Wampus cat fur.
Following that, Sirius lead them to a shop called Incognito Wizardwear this shop sold muggle clothing that for once wasn't strange or out of fashion long ago. There Harry was able to buy clothing that fit him for once and wasn't clearly hand-me-down.
In addition to all that they went to Knockturn Alley where they came up to a shop called Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos besides their usual services of magical tattoos they also did ear piercing. There Harry was able to get both his ears pierced in a quick and painless process, and he was finally able to put on the earing that he bought.
Then their little group made a pit stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where they got the well-deserved break they needed and something into their stomach.
Last but not least was Flourish and Blotts where they got all the books required for the new term. They also made a stop at a shop called Obscurus Books which held a collection of tomes that weren't sold to the usual marked. There Harry had a great picking of subjects he never came across or for that matter heard about.
However, it was here doing this store that they ran into two people they did not expect to run into at all.
"H-harry," a sweet, lovely voice called out to him.
Turning around to face the speaker, Harry saw that it was Susan Bones a Hufflepuff student from the same year as him. She was a cute, pretty witch with straight blonde hair, chestnut colored eyes, and smooth creamy skin. She stood at a good 5 foot 7 inches with a bust of D-cup with plenty of room to grow. She has an oval shaped face, a small dainty nose, adorable dimples, rosebud lips, and a developing athletic figure.
All in all, she was a glorious, and lovely witch which Harry very much approved of her looks and character.
"Hey, Susan," Harry greeted her back as tried not to think of anything else but their conversation.
"Hello to you too. I don't want to be awkward or anything," she began with as she looked downward, "but I just saw you, and I just wanted to say hi."
"Oh no, don't be embarrassed. I really appreciate it that you went out of your way to greet little old me. I am surprised you even notice me."
"How couldn't I," she said as she blushed, "your Harry Potter."
Was the hero worship he detected from her tone, playing it off, Harry replied. "So What? You are Susan Bones, the most cutest girl in our year."
Going bright red all the way to her ears, Harry barely heard her whisper, "You really think so."
Placing his hands on her fidgeting fingers, Harry rested his other hand below her chin and brought up her profile until they were face to face. "I do not think so," Harry said in a husky voice, "I know so."
Looking at him with that lovely face of hers, and that starry-eyed look in her face. He heard her reply with, "You have really grown over the summer, you're very tall, muscular, and... and....."
"And handsome," Harry finished for her with a grin on his lips. He had to say if his new looks were having that effect on women then it really wasn't so bad as he first thought.
"Yes," she replied trying to hide her face again but Harry held her strongly in place.
"Don't you think we make a wonderful couple, you and me? One so adorable as you and one as handsome as me."
Squeaking out loud, Harry thought she would run from him right then and there, however, he heard someone call out from the crowd in the bookstore.
"Susan!"
Then he heard another voice he knew very well call out, "Harry!"
Letting go of her, Harry saw Sirius in his polyjuice form and a woman that shared similar features with Susan make their way over. "It seems like our respected guardians are here. Well let's catch up at Hogwarts," Harry said.
"Okay," Susan responded, and he could have sworn he noticed a hint of disappointment.
Seeing her off and go with her guardian, Sirius made his way to him among the crowd and also watched the back of the two women.
Taking a closer look at his face, Harry saw a look of longing and pain on his expression. "Do you know that woman?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Sirius replied, "she is the one I let slip away."
"No way, she was your fiancee, Susan's guardian?!"
"Yep," Sirius said, "her name is Amelia Bones. I heard she is Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Dang," Harry uttered, having nothing else to say.
With that short run in, their shopping spree came to a close as endless shopping bags piled on top of the house-elves and their pockets a bit more empty.
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Coming up to the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius and Harry bid farewell to the House-elves and would meet them back at their home. Then Sirius cast a spell on the fairies making them unnoticeable to all the muggles. With that, they walked out into the busy London streets of Great Britain and made it back to the alley they apparated in.
Grabbing Sirius's hand and the fairies holding on to his hair disappeared from the alleyway and almost instantly appeared in 12 Grimmauld Place.
Letting go of his godfather's arm, both of them and the tiny little fairies waked up to the old ancestral home of the Blacks. Pausing at the door, Sirius turned to face Harry and with a raised eyebrow and uttered, "Don't forget that surprised look, okay!"
"Yea, yea, I got it," Harry said as he waved off the man's concerns. "Now can you please open the door? Let's get this party on the room."
"Alright," Sirius said as he waved his hand over the door which magically opened by itself.
Entering the darkened hallway, Harry and Sirius dropped all their shopping bags on to the floor and stepped deeper into the house.
Taking a left into the living room, Sirius waved his hand at the fireplace to which it quickly came to life and lit up the room. Jumping out of behind the furnitures was Mrs. Tonks, Lupin, and Tonks as they all yelled, "SUPRISE!" as balloons took to the air and decorations light up in different shades.
Putting on his best surprised expression as he placed his hand on his heart, Harry voiced, "Wow, you guys. You all had me jumping out of my boots. Wow, you did all this for me?!"
"Happy 18th birthday, dear," Miss Tonks smiled at him.
Walking over to him, Tonks made her way over and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Come on, we all know that you weren't surprised."
"Well, if anything your party dress had me fluttering, "Harry playfully remarked as he racked his eyes over the elegant black sateen laced up dress that showed a lot of legs and emphasize all her hips and curves.
Blushing, Tonks surprised him when she replied back, "Thanks!"
Harry smiled up at the witch when he heard her shocking answer, maybe he truly was breaking into her. Over the past couple of days, he had kept up his end of the bargain and has been ambushing her all over the house, and showering her with hot, steamy kisses. No matter how much she resisted there was no denying that she was enjoying their passionate snogging sessions and she has been making it easier for them to wound up in dark, secluded sections of the house.
Now if only they could move up from that stage and go on into much better things, things like poping his cheery.
Before Harry could say any thing else to Tonks, both Lupin who was dressed in a form fitting suit and Mrs. Tonks who was wearing a simple summer dress came up to them.
"You need to work on your surprise face," Lupin was first to remark as he grinned up his best mates son.
"That is what I told him as well," Sirius mentioned.
Ignoring both men, Mrs. Tonks grabbed his hands and voiced, "You can go upstairs, dear, and put on your party wear, I have put it on your bed."
"Thanks, Aunt Dromeda," Harry said as he nodded to the older witch.
Not letting go of his hands, Mrs. Tonks narrowed her eyes at a position not near his eyes. "Is that an earring?" Mrs. Tonks asked.
Not giving him a chance to answer, the older witch grabbed his face and turned his head around to get a closer look. Taking a sharp intake of breath was her worst fears were confirmed, Mrs. Tonks let go of him at once and turned her attention to his godfather.
"It was you, who got his ears pierced, huh?" the older witch asked in an accusatory tone, though it was clear he already knew it was him.
"I think it cool," Tonks mentioned, but her mother ignored her and continued to face down her wayward cousin.
"What?" Sirius asked with a shrug, "what's wrong with it? You heard your daughter, she thinks it is cool and so will all the girls at Hogwarts."
"Ooh?" Mrs. Tonks asked innocently, "will you next get his nose pierced then his perfectly natural hair dyed?"
Not noticing that he was walking on thin ice, Sirius nonchalant answered, "There is nothing wrong with getting your hair dyed, it is perfectly well for kids his age to try new things out. And if he wants to get his nose pierced, I will support him."
Lossing her top when she heard the wizard's casual response, Harry found it to be the perfect moment to run up to his room and distance himself far, far away from the confrontation. The only things he heard as he took the stairs two, and three at a time, was Mrs. Tonks shouting, "This is why you should never be given charge of a child's care! You are too irresponsible..."
Coming up to his room, Harry opened it and closed it behind himself with a loud bang and took in deep breaths to calm his racing his heart from the short excursion.
Suddenly speaking up, a tiny, gloomy voice asked, "Do you wizards and witches always fight each other? Is that like normal for you guys?"
Nearly jumping right out of his boots, Harry looked down and say that the fairies followed him up to his bedroom. You could always miss them with their silent beating butterfly wings that shined in the light, and their tiny stature that was near-human enough except for the pointy ears and their ethereal beauty.
"No," Harry answered trying not to point wizarding kind in a bad light though he knew not why since he barely counts himself as one during the best of times. Still doing so, Harry found himself trying to explain, "When two people care for each other they might sometimes argue over some matter but that does not mean they do not love each other."
"You kind is a very strange lot," Bravegrass voiced as she rubbed at her tiny cute chin.
"Yes, yes we are," Harry agreed. "Now," Harry said as he swung the door open, "if you could step out for a moment while I dress up, that would be most appreciated."
"Can't you magically change your clothes, sir?" Fluttershy asked in a low tone barely heard.
"I don't follow," Harry said as he looked down at them in confusion.
"She means like this," Twistyweb answered as she pointed towards the dress and it magically changed into a new one.
"No, I do not think so," Harry said, if he had to guess that was wandless magic.
"But don't you have a wand?" Bravegrass asked incredulously.
Looking down at his wand in his holster, Harry didn't know why but he felt slightly ashamed of inadequacy. "I guess that is just the way it is," Harry could only give in answer.
"Wow, I feel so bad for you," Twistyweb uttered though there really wasn't any change in her expression.
"Why don't we teach him," Fluttershy squeaked out.
"Yea, that is a good idea," Bravegrass said with a nod," he is after all our host, and I do feel bad for him being so weak."
Harry wanted to shout that he was right here and could clearly hear them no matter how tiny their voices were but he didn't know what to say that wouldn't make him more ashamed of himself.
All he could do was, "Alright, please leave, let's take this up another day."
This time flying away without any more arguments or embarrassing questions, Harry was left alone inside his room with his party clothing laid out before him. Sighing, Harry walked over to his bed and picked up his clothing and started to put it on.
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Walking back down to the party that hasn't even begin, Harry saw that it was a gloomy mess.
"What's wrong?" Harry called out as he saw that milling about.
"We're sorry pup," Sirius proclaimed as e made his way over.
"What are you sorry for?" Harry asked.
"We know that you are mad that Sirius and I have been arguing deary," Mrs. Tonks answered as she had an apologetic look.
"And what makes you say that?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. This was really out of the ball park for him.
"We heard you slamming your door," Lupin answered, "and that is when we realized that you were even gone."
"Okay, okay, slow your horses," Harry said as he held out his hands. " I don't know how you got it into your heads me slamming the door closed and me being mad at you, but I ain't."
"But..." Sirius said.
"Look, the both of you arguing over what's best for me only shows that you care, okay. I would never be mad or angry at the two of you."
"Are you sure, pup," Sirius asked.
"Yep."
"I always took the slamming of doors to mean that you are angry," Mrs. Tonks mentioned.
"Yep, that would be me," Tonks pointed to herself.
"Okay, can we get this party on the road or what?" Harry asked since he was overdo for one like right now.
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"Alright," Sirius called out to everyone, "its time for the fireworks!"
"Yea!" everyone shouted as they made their way outside to the backyard of the house. There the house-elves laid out the fireworks in a neat and orderly fashion, you really would only need to light up the explosives and that is it.
"Who would do the honors?" Sirius asked as he held out a lighter.
"Let it be the party boy!" Tonks called out as the fairies glowed near her in the moon's luminescence. She really took to the fairies like any girl would when she met them and so did Mrs. Tonks as she reminisced about the fairy she had as a child. There really is something with girls and fairies just like there is for boys and dragons.
"Alright, set on up, party boy," Sirius said as he held up the lighter for Harry.
Smiling as he walked up to the fireworks, Harry took the lighter from his godfather and turned to the small crowd as he made a show of lighting up the device. Before Harry set the fireworks on fire, he was wise enough to recall then asked Sirius, "wait wouldn't the muggle neighbors see the fireworks."
Shaking his head, the older man replied, "No, the wards will take care of that, so you won't have to worry."
Nodding his head, Harry bent down and light up one by one the fireworks then stepped back. Waiting as the wire was quickly consumed, the fireworks were propelled into the air and started to explode.
Watching the wonderful light show go on, Harry could confidently call this his best birthday ever, he might not have his friends with him but he was with family and loved ones.
"Alright," Sirius called out once the fireworks were down, "who's ready to open some presents."
"We are," everyone called out and Harry chuckled as they walked back into the house.
Laid out before him was the presents that everyone bought him and also the ones his friends sent over.
"Open mine's first," Lupin said as he printed his gift that they picked up from the music store. Taking the gift, Harry started to tear it open until three cassette tapes and a cassette player was revealed. Patting him on the back, Lupin voiced, "This isn't any old cassette player like the muggles but one a bit more magical and I got you a few mixes that you might like."
"Thanks," Harry said as he looked up at the older man.
"Open mine's next," Tonks said as she pushed into his hands here gift which they picked up from the puppet store. Tearing the gift open, a book titled; How to get started in Golemancy was revealed and a tiny figurine like golem as well.
"What is it?" Harry asked as he picked up the figurine.
"Well I always see you reading about new and interesting things in the library, so here is a subject matter that they do not yeah at Hogwarts any more and is well worth your time."
"Thanks," Harry said, as he nodded to the witch in appreciation.
"It seems like my gift is next," Mrs. Tonks said as she handed him the gift they got from the bizarre store. Tearing the gift a bracelet was revealed with a single bead on it.
"So what is this?" Harry asked.
"It is a life-saving bead, deary, as it names tells you it can heal any grievous injury and even take your place when your life is at risk."
"Wow," Harry said, it was like he was in a video game and he gained a second life. Hot diggity dog, now that was amazing!
"Last but not least, it is me," Sirius remarked as he passed his gift to Harry which they picked up from the watch store.