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padfootastic · 2 years

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hello. following tonight’s theme, i wanted to crosspost a part (which can technically count for a ficlet ngl) of my postwar tattooed harry…thing. two related drabbles linked at the end.

Harry had two tattoos. (Well, three counting yesterdays). He’d originally meant to show both to Sirius but well, all of *that* had happened and it completely slipped his mind. But he wanted to do it now, needed to cut through the tension, and he knew his godfather would get a good laugh out of the whole thing, too.

So the first thing he did after freshening up was go into Sirius’ room, where he could only see a covered lump on the bed, no other trace of the man. Harry smirked wickedly, before leaping onto the bed as hard as he could, twisting slightly for maximum impact. He did make sure to land beside the lump though, not on it, because he wanted to wake his godfather, not crush him.

He knew he succeeded when he heard a muffled ‘oomph’.

“Wakey, wakey, Sirius,” he sang cheerfully, knowing that Sirius was absolutely not a morning person and probably hated him right now, late-night declarations of love notwithstanding.

“G’way,” a sleep-roughened voice growled, “M’sleep’ng.”

“Not anymore, you’re not,” Harry retorted as he made himself comfortable against the headboard. He was planning to stay for a while. “Besides, I’ve got something to show you.”

One bleary grey eye peaked out from a tiny gap through the comforter, staring at him in silent question.

“You never asked me if the Grim was my only tattoo,” Harry started teasingly, knowing that would be just enough bait to properly rouse Sirius from his slumber.

He was proven right when the man yelped and kicked the thick material off him, clearly too interested to sleep any longer. He was shirtless, tattoos in stark contrast against pale skin. But, Harry didn’t dwell on those, he’d seen them quite often—instead, his eyes immediately went to the small area where his name (His. Name!!!) was etched. Looking at it now, with sunlight streaming in through the window, it seemed so obvious that it was there. How had he never noticed it before?

“Because most people focus on the runes, maybe even the antlers.” He startled at that, not expecting his godfather to have noticed his perusal and definitely not catch his unspoken question. He looked up to see Sirius shrugging ruefully at him.

“Even the Potter Crest,” he trailed loving fingers over said tattoo on his wrist, “those are usually the most eye-catching ones. A simple word gets lost in all that chaos.”

Harry knew what he was talking about. When he’d first seen the man in person, even while he was half-deranged and raving, his attention had been caught on the runes that were inked across his chest, visible through the gap of his tattered robes. He’d asked about them once, way back in fifth year, before…everything.

“Runes are magical tattoos so all of them have a different purpose,” Sirius had answered, “Protection, safety, better channelling of my magic, strengthening my core and being able to connect to it better- acting as a conduit, basically. That one really helped with the Animagus transformation, actually. James and I did a couple of these ourselves before we finished the final transformation. But,” He’d fixed Harry with a stern look (a look rarely seen on him), “I don’t want you to even think of doing something like that. You’re not nearly old enough for it. It…wasn’t a good idea when James and I did, definitely not safe. I don’t want you to risk destabilising your core like we did, Harry. We were dumb idiots who thought we knew better than everyone else, and I should hope you don’t act that way.” Harry, who didn’t know the first thing about Runes and was definitely not gonna mess around with them (he’d heard one too many safety lectures from Hermione, thank you very much), had just nodded quickly in assent. While it had grated slightly, Harry had appreciated that Sirius was honest with him. But his interest in both runes and tattoos had shot up with that conversation. Magic really was quite something, wasn’t it?

Awareness of the others came later, definitely. He’d seen the Potter Crest a few times, especially since Sirius had a habit of caressing his wrist absentmindedly, but he hadn’t known what it was at the time (and wasn’t that depressing? That his own family was so foreign to him?). The antlers, though- those were a surprise. He’d entered Sirius’ room one morning, similar to today, and had seen the beautiful ink spanning his shoulder blades. He’d stopped in his tracks, unable to do anything more than stare gobsmacked at the view. It was—entirely unexpected (though in hindsight, it shouldn’t have been. He had seen, firsthand, how devoted Sirius was to James Potter- it was impossible not to when the man still mourned his father every single day.)

It was just one thing knowing how close his father was to Sirius, but completely another seeing that—love in person.

But yeah. From experience, Harry knew that it was easier to hide tattoos that no one expects to see on you, especially since most people have poor observation skills anyway.

He looked at Sirius again, who’d managed to get cleaned up in the time it took him to get lost in his thoughts.

“So,” the man prompted when he saw Harry turned his way, “care to elaborate on your previous words now?”

Harry smiled mischievously, “Maybe I just said that to get your lazy arse out of bed?”

Sirius’ eyes narrowed suspiciously, obviously considering his words, “Hm. I don’t believe you, pup. You definitely had something specific in mind.”

Harry considered stalling, teasing him further, but he was getting a little hungry and he really wanted to show Sirius too. So he nodded and scooted back so he was on his knees on the bed. He pushed his jumper up, at the same time hooking a thumb into his pyjamas to pull them down slightly.

There, right above the hip bones, was a tattoo in memory of his parents. As was characteristic for the magical counterpart, it was constantly in motion, bringing the whole thing to life. When he’d started looking into them after Sirius had introduced him to the concept, he’d found that there were many types of magical tattoos, runes were just one of them. This was one where the ink was basically like a looped animation.

“Prongs—Lily,” Sirius breathed in wonder as he looked at the ink on Harry’s skin. Although this one wasn’t as big as the one he’d shown yesterday, it didn’t take away from the sheer beauty of the artwork. It had only two components, a majestic stag and a beautiful twine of lilies. What made it interesting was the actual movement itself. Harry got this one just after the War, and his state of mind was entirely different from when he’d gotten Padfoot- more hopeful and less desolate. So he’d gone for a slightly different vibe.

The stag was standing proudly, head held high before taking a step forward and getting entangled in the lilies. Almost falling over. A series of slow blinks. An overexaggerated look of indignation on its face. All the while with the lilies still wrapped comically around its body. Harry remembered being in awe at how well the artist had conveyed that particular emotion, and on an animal at that, without making the whole thing too silly. He was still impressed, to be honest.

Sirius suddenly let out a sharp bark of laughter at seeing the sequence of events, just as Harry had known he would.

“Oh Harry, that’s amazing!” He grinned, eyes crinkling at the corners with the force of his smile, “Wherever did you get the idea from?”

“I was kind of sick of all the doom and gloom, to be honest,” Harry admitted, “So I wanted something that would—make me laugh? Help me not take everything seriously, ykno?”

“Well, I, for one, think you did an excellent job,” Sirius praised, making his heart soar (All these years, and Harry still wanted nothing more than his godfather’s approval), “And I can tell you for a fact that Lily would’ve gotten a hoot out of it. She was a fan of anything that had the potential to deflate your dad’s ego.” Sirius related with a wink.

“James, though, he would’ve taken a while to come around to it, I think,” he continued thoughtfully.

Harry blinked in surprise.

“Don’t get me wrong, he would’ve loved the tattoo itself,” Sirius hastily corrected seeing his expression, “Just—that would come after he’d finished freaking out about his baby getting something like that on his body.”

Harry was confused now (although there was a pleasant warmth forming in him as well. He’d often wondered what his parents would think of his, uh, adventures with body art), “But-I thought dad got his first tattoo when he was younger than me? Why would he freak out?”

“Well, yes. But no one ever claimed that James Potter was rational in his overprotectiveness. All he would’ve thought about was how much pain you must’ve been in through the whole thing. Remember when I said I promised your parents I’d get you your first tattoo? It was actually James who objected to that. Loudly. Kept going on about how you shouldn’t ever have to experience pain like that.”

Harry was—a little taken aback, to be honest. He hadn’t expected that. Of course, by this point he’d realised that his dad was very protective when it came to people he cared about, but somehow he never thought about what it meant for him. (He tried not to think about everything he’d faced so far- the Dursleys, the Basilisk, Cruciatus, Voldemort- and if they would’ve even happened if his parents were still alive, how his dad would’ve reacted)

Sirius clearly hadn’t clocked onto the direction of his thoughts, thankfully, because he was still talking, “—know, I got you your first ever broom-“

“That was McGonagall, Si-“

“Not that one, pup,” Sirius interrupted, shaking his head, “This one was a little toy broom, for your first birthday. Barely went higher than three or four feet, I’d say. Equipped with the most advanced protective charms of the time too.”

Harry listened in wonder, stories of the time he was with his parents still far and few between. There was—so much he didn’t know still.

“I couldn’t give it to you in person- Order mission, you know how it is. But Jamie mirror-called me as soon as they unwrapped it.” Sirius’ smile was nostalgic, remembering the tongue lashing he’d gotten.

“He was ready to chew me out, you know?” He told Harry with a chuckle, “You were zooming around happily in the background and James was following you, stressed as all hell that you’d fall or hurt yourself somehow. Lily was just sipping her wine and enjoying the show. She’d kind of given up on your dad and his antics by that point,” Sirius said the last part in a conspiratorial mock-whisper, even though it was just the two of them in the room.

“It’s so funny to think dad was so high-strung, to be honest. I would’ve never thought.” Harry commented, trying to picture the scenario in mind.

“Oh, absolutely. Most people were under the impression that Lily was the more anxious of the two, and this isn’t me saying she didn’t care or anything. But oh boy, no one could reach James’ levels of catastrophising and drama,” Sirius remarked, “He was in a league of his own.”

“Anyway, enough about that,” Sirius clapped his hands, making Harry jump at the sudden sound. “Looking at how well your tattoo artist did, it’s kind of making me want to go get one of my own now. It’s certainly been long enough, what do you think?”

Sirius directed the last bit at Harry, one eyebrow raised in question.

Without even fully thinking about it, Harry started nodding in excitement, “Yes! You’ve already got me tatted, now it’s your turn, Siri.”

“Okay, okay,” Sirius laughed, holding his hands up, “No need for the rush there, pup. We have all the time in the world.”

And they did, didn’t they? Nothing to do except fill their body with artwork like a canvas, spend time with each other, and enjoy life, Harry thought with giddiness spreading through his body. He couldn’t wait.

xxx

protective james i

protective james ii

#harry potter #sirius black #good godfather sirius black #mother hen james potter #i will not rest until the idea is firmly cemented in everyone’s minds #yes i am still on my ao3/tumblr crosspost agenda don’t mind me #this entire fic was supposed to be super short and casual but then it grew a mind of its own #the point it got divided into 3 chapters #and then the other drabbles that were born from this #i love writing in universe stuff from my fics #weird as that sounds #like that continuity is something i adore #ok i just realised - after the first word ficlet - that i used the same ‘wakey wakey’ call for harry and sirius lol #5 years apart. and u can still spot the same shit. smh.#(although where wakey wakey came from idk. i don’t use it nor does anyone else around me:#anyway yeah. i’m a bit obsessed with tattoos and these boys so ykno. this.#pen’s writing #pen’s favourites

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