I know this starts out slow, but bear with me, darlings. :) *KISSES*

Natalie shivered, looking up at the cloudy night sky for any sign of Remus and his friend.

It was raining softly, not enough to drench her clothes, but enough to make her wish the men would hurry up. She pulled her jacket tighter around her and sighed, watching her breath float away as a cloud of steam.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Lupin landed in front of her in the dark, clambering off of his broomstick and shouting. "Natalie!" he yelled. "Hey!"

She hurried forward to meet him, and he immediately swept her into a strong embrace. He pulled back and grinned at her, rainwater dripping off of his hair. "What are you doing, standing out here?" he asked her, gripping her arms tightly. "You're sure to catch cold!"

"I wanted to see you!" Natalie protested, smiling. Behind them, in the darkness, Remus' traveling mate landed on the wet ground with a thump. He didn't say anything, but hovered in the background, away from the edge of the golden glow cast by the porch light.

Natalie ignored him, grabbing Remus' fingers and turning to open the door behind her that led into the kitchen. They stepped into the house, to be greeted by smiles and loud calls from the Weasley family, who were all crowded around the table, waiting for Remus' return.

"Alright there, Remus?" asked Mr. Weasley, hurrying forward to shake Lupin's hand. Mr. Weasley was a tall, balding man, wearing shabby robes that defied the bright, welcoming smile he wore.

Remus grinned back. "Good to see you, Arthur." He nodded at the short, round woman hovering by her husband's empty chair and wringing her hands happily, as if she wished she was holding a large cup of tea to help calm her excitement. "Hello, Molly."

"Oh, hello, Remus," Mrs. Weasley gushed. "So glad you made it back safely. Shall I put on some tea? You'll need to change out of those wet robes, too."

The Weasley children, all with flaming red hair, crowded forward to shake Remus' hand, as well. The twins, Fred and George, grinned and nodded happily. Ginny, the youngest and only girl, suddenly rushed forward to wrap her arms around Remus' waist. "It's so good to see you, Professor," she gushed.

Lupin chuckled and patted her on the head. "Come now, Ginny, I haven't taught at Hogwarts for some time now." He smiled at three teenagers standing in the background, who looked just as excited as Ginny to see their old professor. "Harry, how are you?" He nodded at the other two. "Hermoine, Ron, good to see you."

Harry shook his bangs out of his eyes and grinned mischieviously. "Long time, no see, Professor."

Suddenly, the door creaked behind them, and the stranger who had arrived with Remus stepped into the kitchen. As he moved out of the shadows, Mrs. Weasley let out a scream. "Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing a quivering finger at the man standing in the doorway. "Arthur, it's him! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU MURDERER!"

Natalie spun around to stare at the newcomer. He was tall and thin, his skin stretched over his emaciated frame so that he looked like a ghoul. His hair was jet-black and matted, throwing dark shadows across his sunken face. His eyes were black and glittering, and his features registered his shock as he faced Mrs. Weasley.

Remus hurried to step between Sirius and the Weasley family. "Molly, it's okay," he insisted, in a quiet but firm voice. "He's innocent-"

"He's the one that escaped from Azkaban!" Fred yelled, clutching George's arm excitedly. "Isn't that right, Dad?"

"What's Azkaban?" Natalie asked, bewildered.

Everyone spun around to stare at her. She felt the stranger's eyes on her also, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"I forgot," Remus murmured. "I forgot, Nat, you wouldn't know-"

"Know what?" she asked, exasperated. She spun to return the stranger's stare. "You- you killed someone?" she asked, disgusted.

Before he could answer, Harry rushed forward and threw himself in front of Sirius. "It's okay!" he yelled hoarsely. "Professor Lupin is telling the truth!"

Natalie reacted without thinking. She stepped forward, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him away from the stranger, who didn't move to stop her. Harry, however, was not impressed. "Stop!" He yelled, struggling against her grip.

With a great amount of effort, Natalie managed to pull him behind her, holding him back with her arm. She glared at the man. "You lay one hand on any of these children," she snarled, "And I will kill you myself."

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Mr. Weasley had drawn his wand, along with the twins. Ginny quivered in her chair, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. Ron and Hermoine, however, looked cross.

The stranger's face didn't register any sort of surprise. He cocked his head and considered her, his black eyes boring into hers. He wore a bemused expression. After a moment's pause, he took a step towards her. She had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her grip on Harry's arm tightened, and he yelped. No one else moved. Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You're not afraid of me?" he asked. His voice was deep but croaky, like he hadn't used it in a long time.

Natalie took a deep breath, fully aware of the fact that she was the only Muggle in the room, and incapable of performing any magic. She raised her eyebrows and straightened her shoulders. "No," she answered bravely, noticing the slight quiver in her voice, despite her best efforts.

Natalie thought she saw Sirius' mouth twitch, as if he were struggling to hide a smile. He stepped back and met her eyes again. "I won't harm anyone in this room," he assured her, speaking slowly. "I'm Harry's godfather."

"What?" Mr. Weasley had lowered his wand, and was staring at Sirius.

Remus heaved a sigh of relief. "Arthur, I promise you, I would not have brought him into your home if I believed the charges against him. Sirius and I went to school together, with Harry's father."

Harry stepped around Natalie, whose grip on his arm had slackened at Sirius' announcement, walking over to envelope his godfather in a tight hug. Natalie heard Hermoine let out a squeak, as if she had been holding her breath and was just now letting it out.

Mrs. Weasley stood, frozen on the spot for a moment, her mouth working furiously as she digested Sirius' words. Then, with a shake of her head, as if to clear her mind, she pushed back her sleeves and raised her wand. She gave her husband a meaningful look and announced, "Well, in that case- I'll just make some tea, then, shall I?" She flicked her wand at the china cabinet in the corner, and the door banged open as the china tea set within flew across the room to come to rest on the kitchen table. Immediately, the teapot started steaming. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a nod. "Harry, dear, take our guest's cloak then, will you? It just won't do for them to stand here drenched."

Harry obeyed while Ginny hurried forward to take Natalie and Remus' cloaks as well. Remus had a wide , schoolboy grin on his face. "Oh, Molly, I'm so glad. You know I would do nothing to put your family in danger."

Mrs. Weasley nodded curtly, flicking her wand and bringing another chair to the table from where it sat in the living room. The family dutifully took their places around the table. Natalie found between Hermoine and Remus. Ron looked around and asked suddenly, "Where's Percy?"

George snickered. "Probably upstairs making a scrapbook of his boss. If you ask him, Mr. Crouch can do no wrong."

Mr. Weasley, who seemed to have recovered from his shock, cleared his throat. "George, leave your brother alone. He takes his job very seriously." But his eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. He looked down the table and asked Remus kindly, "Pass the sugar, please."

Lupin complied, smiling. Mrs. Weasley was busy making sure the children all had full cups, finally settling down in her own chair with a sigh. "Well, Mr. Black," she said to Sirius. "We had no idea. Harry never said-"

"I knew it would frighten you," Harry interrupted. "I didn't want to get Sirius in trouble. I mean, he's still on the run, right?"

Sirius nodded. "I get along fine," he told Harry, as if to reassure him. "But Remus here sent me a letter a couple of days ago." He looked across the table at his best friend and grinned. "Said he was staying here with you all, along with Harry and Hermoine. He told me he had made a new friend and that I should come by and meet her. I jumped at the chance, of course. It's been too long since I got to see my godson."

Harry grinned at him. Sirius continued, leaning over in his chair so he could see down the table and addressing Natalie. "Now that you're finished threatening me, I'd like to hear your story," he invited.

Natalie made a sound, as if to protest, but Sirius threw his head back and laughed heartily. It was a strange sound, coming from a man who looked as if Death itself were hovering over his shoulder. However, Natalie noticed, he looked twenty years younger when he smiled.

Fred snorted into his teacup. "It's not like she could have carried through, though, is it?" When Sirius looked at him questioningly, he announced, with the air of someone explaining to a child, "Well, she is a Muggle, you know."

All eyes were again on Natalie. She cleared her throat nervously and picked at the pink tablecloth. "Well, I- I met Remus one evening in London. I work for a law firm there. I'm on holiday for the next month, so he invited me to come up here and meet you all." She reached over and squeezed Remus' hand. "It's pretty hard to conceal the fact that you're a wizard when you're around someone as much as he was around me. We do everything together. It didn't take me long to figure it out." Remus smiled at her and winked. Natalie could feel Sirius' eyes on her from across the table.

Suddenly, Hermoine pushed her chair back from the table with a scraping sound. "Come on, Harry," she said firmly. "We need to finish that essay for Snape before we go back to school next week." She gave Ron a pointed look. "Don't we?"

Ron nodded quickly. "Oh- oh, yeah. Right." The three teenagers hurried out of the room.

"Cummon, Ginny. George and I will play you at Exploding Snap." Fred climbed the stairs, with George and Ginny behind him.

Sirius looked around at Mrs. Weasley and the other adults. "I didn't scare the children away, did I?" A hint of a smile played around his lips.

Mr. Weasley chuckled. "No, no, the children are always like that," he said. "Always running off, getting into some sort of trouble."

Remus and Sirius responded together. "We know." Mrs. Weasley smiled into her teacup as she took a drink.

Sirius leaned back in his chair, tilting it back on two legs and relaxing for the first time since they had stepped inside. "Remus and I went to Hogwarts together," he explained to Mrs. Weasley. "James was my best friend. Harry's the only link I have to him and Lily now."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Sirius. I didn't know. I just- well, the Daily Prophet, you know-" She blushed and looked embarrassed at being caught reading a paper that was notorious for printing misleading stories.

Remus chuckled. "That horrible Rita Skeeter woman will be the death of us all," he insisted. Rita Skeeter was a reporter for the Daily Prophet, which was the newspaper of the wizarding world, and seemed to enjoy destroying people's reputations as long as it sold papers. She had lost Remus his teaching job at Hogwarts last year by producing an article that revealed his biggest secret. However, his voice held no trace of anger or bitterness.

Everyone laughed. In fact, Rita Skeeter had written the story about Sirius' escape from prison, detailing the murders of thirteen people that had placed him there twelve years ago. Remus had informed Natalie in private that it was not Sirius who killed those people, nor did he betray James and Lily by leading Voldemort to their hiding place. Those crimes had been committed by their old friend and schoolmate, Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew had vanished after Sirius and Remus, along with Harry and his friends, had almost caught him at Hogwarts last year. Mrs. Weasley was frowning, apparently realizing that what she had read about Sirius in the news was definitely inaccurate.

Mr. Weasley stood up, gesturing towards the living room. "Shall we gather around the fire? I daresay Nat looks ready to catch a chill."

Natalie gave him a grateful look, and the company moved into the next room, leaving Mrs. Weasley behind. The kitchen filled with the sounds of china washing itself in the sink, and bubbles floated through the air above her head as she wandered out to join them a few minutes later.

The Weasley's home, while cluttered, was one of the coziest places Natalie had ever stayed in. There was always something exciting going on, as the family rattled around the home, and it was not uncommon for guests to be present. Mrs. Weasley puttered around the kitchen, baking and cleaning while humming to herself along with the Worldwide Wizarding Network on the radio. She was constantly chasing the children outside in an attempt to gain some peace in the house. Natalie had thoroughly enjoyed her visit so far.

Mrs. Weasley looked carefully at Sirius. "Where have you been hiding, then, if you've been on the run all this time?"

Sirius chuckled. "Living in caves, mostly." At the shocked looks around him, he said quickly, "It's not too bad. I steal food from nearby wizarding towns, keep up with the news by reading Daily Prophet newspapers that have been tossed out."

Molly frowned, and Natalie had a feeling she didn't approve of Sirius' lifestyle.

They talked long into the night, until Mrs. Weasley glanced at the clock above the fireplace and gasped. "My, it's one o'clock in the morning! It's time for bed. We have a lot to do before we take the children to Diagon Alley for their school things on Monday."

"Where?" Natalie broke in.

Remus smiled. "You'll love it, Nat. It's a section of London dedicated entirely to wizards' needs." At Natalie's confused look, he explained, "It's not accessible to Muggles without guidance."

"Maybe we could stop in some of the Muggle shops on the way?" Mr. Weasley asked hopefully. "I'd love for Natalie to show me some things that work on ekeltricity. The things these Muggles come up with, bless them…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

Natalie nodded and stretched. "Sure, Arthur. Now, though, I think I'm ready to turn in."

Goodnights were said all around, and Natalie followed everyone upstairs, turning to walk into Ginny's room, which she was sharing, along with Hermoine. Remus placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed as he walked by, and she smiled at him. Right behind him, Sirius walked by her. His black, glittering eyes looked into hers, and Natalie had to repress a shiver as she turned and let herself into the bedroom. However, she thought to herself, she couldn't be sure if she feared Sirius or longed to know more about him. It was an unsettling idea.