Remus Lupin folded up the latest Daily Prophet and laid it on the table with a relieved sigh. Sirius hadn't been mentioned once, which meant he was safe and sound. Lack of new evidence had done nothing to stem the flow of stories about him last year, of course, but Remus suspected that the wizarding community had grown bored of them. As far as they were concerned, a far-away criminal that had yet to actually hurt anyone didn't seem very important in the face of Ireland making it to the World Cup. The newspaper certainly had a lot to say about that.

He was distracted by the sound of the kitchen door opening and Arthur stumbling in, blurry-eyed and bed-headed but somehow already in an immaculate suit. "Morning," he mumbled, sitting down at the kitchen table opposite Remus. There was a dining room, of course, but it was an enormous thing more suited to a banquet than a simple meal and didn't seem to see much use.

Everything in the Kirkland manor was huge. When Remus first visited he assumed he'd read the address wrong and gone back to the nearest village for proper directions. He quickly understood why Arthur had been so willing to invite him to stay. Even with two people living there it felt empty. Since Alfred and his brother preferred their home overseas, Arthur had only his house-elf and some pets that were technically prohibited by the Ministry for company. That had made it much easier for Remus to stay there while he looked for more work.

"Good morning," said Remus. Arthur pulled the Prophet over to his side of the table and began reading. He only got as far as the first page before he let out a groan. "What's wrong?"

Arthur stared down at his plate, which was being filled with bacon and eggs by Brownie. "Thanks, Brownie." He sighed and looked up at Remus. "It's not wrong, per se, just… God, she's going to be insufferable."

"Who?" Remus asked.

Arthur looked back down, absently rearranging his food with his fork. "My sister. She's supporting Ireland, and she can be very…"

Before he could say exactly what she was, there came the distinct thud of the front door being thrown open. "ARTHUR, PUT YOUR PANTS ON, BECAUSE HOLY-"

Brownie vanished, presumably to confront this strange intruder. Arthur didn't seem at all perturbed. "Speak of the devil…"

Remus didn't have time to ask him what on earth was going on, because it seemed only seconds before the kitchen door was thrown open and a red-haired woman marched over to the table, Daily Prophet in hand and a wide grin on her face. "Read it and weep, baby brother!" She held the newspaper directly in front of Arthur's face with one hand and waved at Remus with the other. "Hello, there! I'm Erin. Nice to meet ya!"

"Remus Lupin," said Remus, holding out a hand. "You're Arthur's sister, yes?"

Erin shook his hand. "The one and only."

Arthur pushed her arm away so he could see unimpeded. "Yes, I know, congratulations. Your people were better at throwing a ball into a hoop than mine. Please tell me you didn't interrupt breakfast just to gloat."

"Please, I'm not that petty," said Erin, reaching down and picking a briefcase up from the floor where she'd dropped it. "My boss did give me some stuff to run by you."

Remus chewed as quietly as he could. Ever since he'd arrived, he had been quite intrigued by Arthur's mysterious 'work'. It was clearly quite time-consuming, considering how often he left for meetings or stayed up late in his study poring over documents he never let Remus so much as glimpse. Considering how defensive he got whenever Remus asked him about it, this seemed like the best chance to learn a bit more about what he was up to.

"And…?" Arthur prompted. "You wouldn't be this happy if that was all you have up your sleeve."

"Oh, well, if you insist." Erin opened the briefcase and rifled through her papers before handing a piece of parchment to her brother.

Arthur looked at it and frowned. "How did you get this? I thought we weren't getting involved this time."

"Not officially, no, but we can't really not be involved, so I'm keeping tabs on it," said Erin. The mischievous glint in her eyes and excited tapping of her fingers on the table reminded Remus of nothing so much as James and Sirius's behaviour right before Snape walked into one of their pranks. He found himself sliding his chair back slightly so that he could duck under the table for cover.

Arthur silently read the letter for a few moments before his eyes lit up. "Oh, Lukas is going to be there? Excellent! If only we could sneak Vlad in, too, then…" He suddenly stiffened, staring up at the wall as if he were looking right through it. His eyes widened and his lips parted in horror. "No."

"Yes," said Erin, walking around the table and standing next to Remus. The gleeful malice on her face made him suspect she did this so she could get a better look at her brother's expression.

"Why?" Arthur almost whimpered. "Why him? Why me?"

"Him? Because it's his house," said Erin matter-of-factly. "You? Because God hates you."

Arthur looked like he might start crying. Well, this isn't going the way I thought it would, Remus thought to himself. He had no idea what was going on, but he felt like he should intervene. "Er, I'm sorry, what are you two talking about?" he asked. He doubted they would give him a straight answer, but Arthur needed some kind of distraction.

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Erin airily, casually resting her arm on the back of Remus's chair. "Artie just has to be a big boy and somehow live in the same huge castle as someone he doesn't like."

Arthur seemed to snap back into reality, glaring at her. "'Someone he doesn't like'?! He is the bane of my existence! Since the day we met, he's tried to ruin every good thing that ever happened to me!"

"Gee, I wonder how that feels," said Erin, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Arthur was getting quite animated now, rising to his feet and pacing back and forth. "Exactly! How would you feel if you had to live with me again for a year?"

"Why do you think I'm so happy?" she asked, words dissolving into laughter.

"You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Arthur demanded.

"It does sound like somethin' I'd do, doesn't it?" said Erin, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "But, no, not this time. Blame the government."

"I will," Arthur snarled, storming out of the room.

Erin put the parchment back in the briefcase, closed it, and grabbed a strip of bacon from Arthur's plate. "Gotta go, nice meetin' you, if he mentions a blood price run away and never come back," she said quickly before rushing out of the room. "Arthur, come back, I was just kidding!"

Remus looked over at Brownie, who was putting a lid on Arthur's plate to keep it warm. "Is… is that normal?" he asked.

Brownie shook his head. "No, no, it's usually far worse."

Suddenly Remus understood why Arthur had been living alone.

A/N: Welcome back, everyone! To any first time readers, I'd suggest reading the first three books first, but you do you. Sorry the text got scrambled at first when I uploaded this, idk what happened. Also, what do you guys suggest for Bulgaria's human name? I think that should tell you what the next couple chapters are focusing on, so I'll see you all next time!