{Okay, I leave on my trip and won't be able to update for about two weeks. Hope you enjoy, and I'll make it up when I get back!}
Chapter 1. Shoes to Fill
"I am never going to get over how weird the titles are." Frank said. Many nodded.
Sirius Black was undeniably happy.
"Are all the books going to start with Sirius?" James asked. "No." The three boys said.
He was out of Azkaban, his boys were with him and he got his friend Remus back. His only complaint was that he wanted to raise the boys from the start, not have to jump ahead ten years.
"And we'll make sure you do." Harry said as he moved Teddy.
But no biggie. Okay big biggie, but he can deal with it.
"You are just like your Papa." Shizuka said fondly. Leo grinned.
Sirius hummed something off key as his friend Remus walked in and looked at him like he grew a second head. "Sirius, are you cooking?" Remus asked in shock.
"WHAT!?" James, Remus and Regulus asked in shock. Sirius blushed. "He gets really good at it, actually." Aries said. "Aries, quick question." Barty said. "Shoot." "What the bloody hell did you do to your hair?" Barty asked pointing at the white streak in his hair. "I think it gets explained in a later book." Harry mused as Teddy reached for his glasses.
Sirius nodded. He had pulled several of Shizu's in English cookbooks and decided to make breakfast.
"You actually read them?" She asked in surprise.
"Since when do you make breakfast?" Remus asked jokingly. "Since Shizu tricked me into learning how." Sirius answered. It still hurt to bring Shizu up, but that stab in his heart was just a dull, ignorable ache.
Leo winced and Shizuka cuddled Sirius. Aries and Harry were snickering at Leo's embarrassed look at his parents getting cozy.
Remus winced a bit. "Oh." He said awkwardly.
"Very awkward." Remus amended. "Oh I remember this morning!" Harry crowed. He ignored the curious looks he was getting and played with Teddy.
"So what is it?" Remus asked looking at the stove. "Very Japanese actually." Sirius said.
"So very tricky to make." Shizuka said. "Really?" Liliana asked curiously. "Well it's very detailed and time consuming, but thankfully it's rather simple ingredients."Shizuka said.
"Why is that pan rectangular?" Remus asked. "To roll the tamagoyaki." Sirius answered. "The what?" Remus asked. "Rolled omlete."Sirius answered.
"That takes time and patience." Shizuka said with a smile. "How long did it take you?" Barty asked the book.
"Shizu really taught you a lot." Remus said. "She did." Sirius said as he tried to roll the meticulous egg dish.
"You are really set on that." Dorea noted.
"Rice, eggs, vegetables, miso soup and fruits." Sirius said as he moved to set the table.
"Too bad you don't have fish." Shizuka said. "It's pretty tasty." Leo added making his mother smile.
"How long have you been up?" Remus asked. "A couple of hours." Sirius said simply. "Why do you ask?" "Because I would've thought you'd sleep in and order take out." Remus dead panned.
"I thought so too." Sirius added.
"Shut up, I'm not an irresponsible prat anymore." Sirius said in a huff.
"Did I just insult myself?" Sirius asked. "Yep." Remus and James choired.
"No, you've become a single house wife." Remus joked.
Everyone except Sirius laughed.
"Oi!" Sirius snapped. "Are you or are you not wearing an apron?" Remus asked smirking.
"The scary thing was he looked like a real house wife." Harry added.
Sirius gave him the universal sign to 'fuck off.'
The Marauders snorted.
That's when they heard the sound of boys running upstairs. "Be careful!" Sirius shouted.
"You sound like my mum." Alice noted. Sirius blushed.
"Did you manage to find your shoes yet?" Remus asked. "No, Aries and Leo thought it'd be funny to hide them." Sirius said with a twitching eye.
"He just gave up and bought a new pair." Aries said.
"Padfoot!" Harry said as he walked in to the dining area. "What?" He asked at Harry's puzzled look. "Are you wearing an apron?" He asked.
Everyone laughed hard.
Sirius groaned and threw his hands up in defeat.
"Wise move." Charlus chuckled.
"Anyway, is breakfast ready?" Harry asked.
All females shook their heads. Boys and their food.
"Yes." Sirius taking the apron off. Harry looked up at the ceiling. "FOOD!" He bellowed, and shortly after Leo and Aries were at the table.
James and Sirius shared a grin.
"Black family appetite." Remus muttered.
"True." Andromeda said with a nod.
"Shut up an eat Moony." Sirius said.
"Déjà vu." Remus said.
Breakfast so far went off without a hitch. It was awkward when they first lived together again after so many years, but now they were a normal family.
"As normal as it can get." Sirius muttered.
"Moony, how come you're visiting today?" Leo asked as he munched on some rice.
"To play house." Remus said sarcastically. Sirius swatted his friend.
"I needed to help Sirius with some stuff today." Remus said as he dug into the food.
"Of course." The marauders chorused.
"Hey, Uncle where'd you learn to cook like this?" Aries asked as he stared at the tamagoyaki. "Leo's mom." Sirius answered.
"Thank you Auntie." Aries thanked.
"When I rented with Moony here, neither of us could cook, and we lived off of leftovers. Shizu challenged me to learn how and taught me." Sirius answered.
"Of course you competitive…" She said before Sirius cut her off with a kiss. Teddy made a cooing noise and Leo blanched.
"Then Lana taught him. I think out of all of us, only you could cook." Remus answered.
"Really?" The Italian asked curiously.
Sirius grinned. "Hey, I like to eat, might as well make it myself." Sirius replied.
Sirius looked contemplative at his future self's words.
"What're you two doing today?" Harry asked. "Cleaning out an old house, going over bills and whats its." Sirius replied dully.
Sirius groaned.
The three pulled faces. "I'm not asking you boys to help." They instantly looked surprised but glad.
"I think we were used to being house elves." Aries said.
Breakfast ended shortly after and only Sirius and Aries stayed back. Harry and Leo left to go finish homework (or in Leo's case plan mayhem)
"Of course. I have to make the marauders proud." Leo said interrupting himself.
before they left and Remus left to get Andromeda.
"Babysitting." Aries and Harry added.
"What's up Aries?" Sirius asked as he put his dishes in the sink. Aries looked down for a moment. "Hey, Uncle Siri." Aries said. "Yes?" Sirius asked. "Can you tell me about my parents?" Aries asked.
"This is awkward." Aries said looking at the ceiling. Regulus nodded.
Sirius stood still for a while and thought hard about what he could tell Aries.
"Sorry." Sirius said sheepishly.
"Well, your father was the family favorite." Sirius said shocking Aries.
"I was used to being hated." He replied at the questioning looks he got.
"Really?" He asked. "Yes, he followed family tradition and made our parents proud, while I was the rebellious troublemaker." Sirius said.
"Wonder where I fall in?" Aries muttered.
"So you were the white sheep of the Black family?" Aries asked.
Sirius laughed
Sirius barked out a laugh. "You could say that. My family wasn't full of nice people, so I left to be myself." He said.
"I love how much your understating." Andromeda said not noticing the looks from the proper Blacks.
"You see Aries, not every family is perfect, but well… I just want you to know that your dad did make some mistakes in his life, but I don't want you to completely hate him for it. He just did what he was taught by your grandparents."
Regulus looked at his now grown son. Aries gave him a brief smile.
Aries was quiet for a moment. "What about my mom?" he asked. Sirius thought hard. "I do remember your father being very protective about her." Sirius told Aries.
"You have no idea." Aries said. Many people looked questioningly at him, but he just motioned for Leo to continue.
"You see Aries, back then it was a war, and people did what they could to keep their loved ones safe. I never really got to know her since Regulus would try his best to shield her from the war, but I can say you are quite a bit like her." Sirius said.
Aries smiled.
"But I look just like Da." Aries said in confusion. "I know you do. I grew up with him and had to rummage for that wedding photo your mother gave me." Sirius said.
"I call bullshit." Leo said.
Aries gave him a look. "Okay I had Moony look for it." Sirius amended.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Called it." Leo said with a smirk.
"But you have her singing voice, and trust me that's a miracle, nearly every Black is tone deaf." Sirius said.
"I know." Aries grumbled as he rubbed his ear.
"Mr. Ollivander mentioned that too, when I got my wand." Aries said. "He has a good ear then. You also have your mother's creativity. Merlin knows my brother was a stick in the mud." Sirius said.
"You are!" Sirius defended at his brother's glare.
Aries chuckled a bit. "Go keep your cousin from blowing the house up would ya? Andy's coming over and I would rather the house be in one piece." Sirius said. Aries nodded and walked off.
"The joys of being the oldest." Aries said sarcastically. All of the oldest siblings nodded.
About five minutes later, Andy flooed over and into the living room. "Sirius." She said happily before enveloping him in a hug. He hugged his cousin back. "Good to see you too Andy." Sirius chuckled.
Andromeda shared a warm look with her also disowned cousin.
"You'll keep them out of trouble won't you?" Sirius asked. She gave him a shrewd look. "Since when did you not want to cause trouble?" She asked.
"THE END IS NEAR!" James said before pretending to die.
Sirius just laughed. "I'll be back soon!" He shouted to the boys upstairs.
Leo made a face at the next line.
Sirius and Remus apparated to what was left of 12 Grimmauld Place.
"WHAT!?" Sirius asked in shock.
The chandeliers and gas lamps were covered in grime and cobwebs, the wall paper was peeling, the carpet was worn thin, and his mother's troll leg umbrella stand was a dust magnet.
Everyone grimaced in disgust.
"Holy fucking shit it got worse!" Sirius spat.
"I never thought that possible." Sirius said in shock.
Then a pair of moth eaten curtains Sirius didn't recognize zipped open to show the screeching portrait of his dead mother.
"Ugh." Sirius groaned.
She was wearing her favorite black cap, and as she screamed her eyes rolled back, her yellowing skin went taut as she screeched and woke all the other portraits up.
"Charming." Frank said nervously. "All that's different is that she's older." Sirius said.
Remus clamped his hands over his ears and Sirius growled as he moved to close the curtains.
Leo looked shocked at the words.
"YOU FILTH! SHAME OF MY FLESH! YOU DARE TO HAVE BROUGHT THIS VILE SCUM INTO THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!?" She screamed at Sirius.
"Can I not meet her?" Leo asked nervously. "You won't have to if I have any say in it." Sirius solemnly swore.
"SHUT UP YOU HAG! SHUT UP!" Sirius shouted as he struggled to close the curtains.
"Black family lungs at its finest." Harry said trying to lighten the mood.
"BLOOD TRAITOR! I HOPE YOU LEARN YOUR PROPER PLACE!" She shouted. "SHUT UP!" Sirius yelled as Remus helped him force her curtains closed.
"I thoroughly don't like her." Shizuka grumbled darkly.
"WHY DID YOU LIVE WHILE REGULUS DIED!?" She screamed before the curtain was drawn closed.
Everyone winced and looked cautiously at Sirius. His expression was unreadable. "Just finish reading Leo." Sirius said in a toneless voice.
Sirius glared at the portrait frame. "Sirius." Remus said. "Well Moony, you've met Mother dearest." Sirius said bitterly before walking past him.
"If you didn't fight with her all the time-" Regulus started. "Don't." Sirius said in a grave voice.
"Let's do this one floor at a time." Remus said. Sirius felt bile rise in his throat. He hated it here.
Sirius' expression showed that that was an understatement.
Sirius and Remus worked quickly as they spelled away most of the dust and cobwebs, but there was a bad infestation of many pests.
Sirius shuddered.
They wandered along the ground floor and into the dining room. The only real issue was the spiders living in the china drawer.
"Where's Kreacher?" Regulus asked.
Sirius caught sight of a pair of batty ears. "Kreacher!" Sirius shouted.
Regulus went "Ah."
Sure enough it was a weathered and old Kreacher. "What do the Blood Traitor and his filth want in Mitresses home?" The ancient house elf croaked.
Sirius grimaced.
Sirius glared at him. "Shut your mouth." Sirius snarled. "I am the master of the house, and you will not speak like that around me, my friends or my family."
Regulus sent a dark look at his brother.
Sirius never understood why Regulus cared about Kreacher,
"I treat him right." Regulus answered. "I would've if he did the same to me." Sirius spat.
but if Sirius ever managed to say any of that biased hate to his boys he'll take his head.
Regulus held his tongue.
"Master has family?" Kreacher croaked. Sirius felt his anger grow at the thought of Kreacher spewing his parents' nonsense to the boys.
Many faces wanted to say that it wasn't nonsense, but Leo continued before it could lead to an argument.
"Kreacher just go and clean the kitchen." Sirius growled. Kreacher walked away and kept talking to himself about Walburga and Regulus.
Aries grimaced.
"Was that your family's house elf?" Remus asked in shock. "Want to meet the rest?" Sirius asked grimly.
Sirius hoped he wasn't mentioning what he thought he was mentioning.
They wandered down the hall, cleaning as they went towards the staircase. "Oh sweet Merlin!" Remus cried. Sirius grimaced.
"Leo blanched a bit.
His mother had this tradition of 'honoring' her favorite house elves. If you call mounting their shrunken heads on the wall honoring.
Sirius got many disturbed looks. "Mother always did that." Regulus said with a grim expression. "And here I thought Orion was over exaggerating." Arcturus said.
"You can see why I kept staying over breaks." Sirius muttered.
"And now you live with us." Dorea said firmly.
Remus was pale and looked like he might be sick. "You were raised here?" He asked in disbelief. "Unfortunately." Sirius grumbled.
Sirius grimaced.
They briefly cleaned the drawing room and the guest room. They refused to go into the bathroom when there was black slush in the bathtub.
"EW."
Sirius refused to go into the tapestry room and made them go towards the upper floors.
Sirius and Regulus looked pained by the mention, but they said nothing.
They managed to make some progress when they came to Sirius' old room.
Sirius gave a weak smirk.
Remus walked in and gave Sirius this incredulous look. "Did you have to have this many muggle models on your wall?" Remus asked. Sirius just barked out a laugh. He knew all the bikini wearing muggle women pissed his mother off so he permanently stuck them there.
"But they're not as pretty as Shizu." Sirius said making her blush a deep scarlet.
They had wandered back down to the ground floor and decided they would try to get rid of his mother's portrait.
"Permanent Sticking Charm." Harry added making his godfather groan.
"Why're we cleaning this place again?" Sirius asked in a bitter whisper. "You're renting the other place and the lease ends soon, and you said you wanted to have the boys live in one of the properties.
"We have too many." Aries said.
"I didn't think people would completely destroy my house!" Sirius hissed.
Many people hissed at that.
"You're lucky I rescued all of yours and Shizu's belongings." Remus muttered as he got rid of a boggart. "And all of the other properties are too far to move into now. Besides you said you wanted to stay close for the trial." Remus added.
"I forgot about that." Barty added. Sirius began to rub his hands evilly.
Sirius grimaced knowing his friend was right. He swatted away a doxy before it bit him.
"IT GOT THAT BAD!?" Many people asked in shock.
"We need plenty of Doxycide. Let's go." Sirius said before they both apparated to Diagon Alley. They walked through Diagon Alley and they got hearty sandwiches to eat as they shopped.
"That must take a lot of energy." Narcissa said.
Sirius kept noticing something that was really bugging him. He was getting ogled at.
Leo shuddered. Like he needed those ideas in his head.
His bad mood was beginning to sour when he kept feeling people eye him like a full pocket or a piece of meat.
Shizuka wrapped her arms possessively around Sirius. His friends catcalled and wolf whistled at him.
A week after the boys moved in with him, his trial and freedom make the front pages. He kept getting letters and odd gifts from people he used to work with as an Auror.
The three from the future shared sadistic smirks.
Aries burned most of the letters and had Leo smash some of the gifts against and old tree.
"He had some freaky shit then." Aries said. "Like what?" Sirius asked curiously. "Some weirdo sent you a used thong." Everyone grimaced. "Please tell me you burned it." Sirius said. "He even burned the ashes." Harry said. "I shattered some doll that looked like him." Leo said. "Fame is a bitch." Harry groaned.
Aries told him that those who weren't really sorry could 'eat their sweaty socks' before he went back to starting their fireplace.
"Now I say worse."
Harry wanted to blow the things up, but Remus had to mention the underage magic law so he settled for dropping them from his broomstick.
"It was so much fun." Harry said.
Sirius snickered at the memory. Sirius was glad when he and Remus had left Diagon Alley with half the store's inventory of Doxycide.
"You have no idea how lucky you are." Harry said. Teddy babbled and clapped his hands as his hair turned emerald.
Sirius made a quick detour to buy a stock load of wolfs bane for Remus. Remus protested it but Sirius ignored him.
"Of course." Sirius said silencing a spluttering werewolf.
"Here. Take these home. I'll start on the doxys." Sirius said. Remus agreed reluctantly before Sirius apparated back to his family home.
And Sirius frowned.
When he got there he wasn't expecting his mother's portrait to be screaming again about his brother.
Regulus looked sheepish.
"REGULUS! YOU CAME BACK!" She shouted as Sirius somehow closed the curtains.
"Huh?" Regulus asked in confusion. He was pretty sure he was dead in the story.
He wandered down the hall thinking this whole place had gone mad, when he heard someone scream.
Aries shifted his eyes.
He dropped the doxycides and ran down the hall and up to the upper floors.
"There are so many things that could go wrong up there." Sirius groaned.
"Sirius." The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black said. "What?" Sirius snapped. "Care to explain why a young boy who's the spitting image of Regulus scurried down the hall?"
Everyone turned to look at Aries. Aries blushed a bit.
He asked. Sirius paled before he took off down the hall, ignoring the portrait's huff of 'Rude.'
"He's a snob." Leo whined.
"Aries!" Sirius shouted. The house was quiet. He wandered down the hall and noticed finger prints on the dusty door not too far from his room.
Sirius hoped he was wrong about his gut feeling.
Sirius blanched. 'Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black.' The door that sign was on was ajar.
Regulus went rigid.
Sirius opened the door slowly. "Aries?" He asked. Sure enough Aries was there in the dusty Slytherin green room.
"Proud much Uncle Reggie?" Leo asked with a smirk before going back to reading.
Aries was staring in horror at the wall of newspaper clippings. They were all about Voldemort.
Regulus swallowed. This couldn't end well.
"Aries?" Sirius asked worriedly as he walked closer. Aries snapped his head at him with disbelieving eyes. Sirius pulled his nephew into a tight hug.
"Papa's hugs are awesome." Leo said.
"He supported him…" He said hollowly. Sirius had nothing to say. He planned to tell Aries when he was a bit older about the extent of his family's ideals.
Harry looked carefully at the two.
"Siri." Aries said in a muffled voice. Sirius winced. He remembers when Regulus used to call him that.
"Really?" Aries asked in surprise. "Back when we were children." Regulus added.
"Was my Da a bad wizard?" He asked thinly.
"I know you're not." Aries said looking at his fourteen year old dad. Regulus gave him a wirey smile.
Sirius pulled back and looked Aries straight in the eye. "Your father was a determined and talented young wizard who would put family first." Sirius said.
Regulus was shocked that his brother would say something like that about him.
"He unfortunately believed my family's ideals and did this" He said motioning to the news clippings "to make your grandparents proud."
Regulus averted his eyes. He could see why Aries was so upset. He supported the man who played a major role in ruining his childhood.
Aries had a diminished look in his eye. "Aries-" "Did he join him?" He asked hollowly. Sirius waited painfully. Should he tell Aries the truth? Or should he lie and keep him in the dark?
"I'd prefer the truth." Aries said looking at his nails then.
"He did." Sirius said. Aries shook badly and Sirius hugged him tightly. He wasn't sure if he made the right decision when he felt his robes dampen.
Aries ignored the looks he received. "I'm glad you told me the truth though." Aries said to Sirius.
"Aries, why're you here?" Sirius asked. Aries wiped his eyes quickly. "In my vault, Da left a key for me." He choked. "And it opens something in this house." Sirius finished.
"I forgot about that." Regulus said. Aries gave him a lopsided smile.
Aries nodded. "Did he mention what it was?" Sirius asked. "He said it was a chest." Aries said.
"In a huge house full of them." Aries said. He barely made a change in the solemn air.
"Aries did you keep the letter?" Sirius asked. Aries pulled a piece of folded parchment out of his robes. "I never leave without it." Aries admitted.
"Still have it." Aries said pulling the letter out." Regulus smiled softly at his son.
"Can I read it?" Sirius asked. Aries passed him the letter and Sirius read it."You've read the letter many times didn't you?" Sirius asked. Aries nodded.
"He has it memorized." Harry said. Aries went scarlet at the cooes he got.
"Do those sound like the words of a bad wizard?" Sirius asked. "He knew what he did was wrong, but –but" Aries sobbed.
"Sorry but it was a lot to take in at the time." Aries said awkwardly.
"I know it was horrible." Sirius said before thinking. How could he fix this?
"No idea." Sirius admitted.
"Aries did anyone tell you a war story?" Sirius asked. Aries shook his head. Sirius sat down on his brother's dusty bed.
Leo looked particularly interested.
"Back when I was an Auror" "What's an Auror?" Aries asked. "Wizard law enforcement." Sirius answered. "Back then, I would battle with many of Voldemort's followers. One battle it was against some of Voldemort's most loyal fighters, the Death Eaters. I fought alongside Moony and Harry's dad, when during the battle I recognized one of the Death Eaters."
"Me." Regulus said.
"It was Da, wasn't it?" Aries asked. "It was. I pulled your Da aside and I smacked some sense into him. I told him to see reason. He told me he was trying, but he said he needed me to promise him something." Sirius said sadly.
Leo's eyes moistened a bit.
"What did he make you promise?" Aries asked. "That if he died, I would look after his wife and his baby." Sirius said.
"I'd do so in a heartbeat." Sirius said. Rgulus gave him a kind smile.
Aries looked at him. "He really loved you and your mother. In fact I think the two of you helped him see what was wrong with being a Death Eater." Sirius said.
The three from the future shared a brief look.
"Do you hate him?" Sirius asked after a tense silence.
Regulus braced himself.
"I hate what he did." Aries said. "But not him?" Sirius asked. "Not him." Aries said.
"Never will." Aries said. Regulus gave his son a smile. Aries pulled his currently smaller and younger father into a hug.
"He's my Da. And you're looking after me now." Aries said. Sirius winced. "I'll be the best uncle you'll ever had. And I'll be the best dogfather for Harry." Sirius joked. Aries chuckled a bit.
"Couldn't ask for a better one." Harry added. Teddy made a babbling noise that sounded like a dog yipping.
Sirius put his arm around Aries. "How did you even know about this place?" Sirius asked as he led Aries out of the room. "Auntie Andy said the name." Aries said. "And you remembered what I said about flooing." Sirius deduced.
"You are too smart for your own good." Barty joked. Aries shrugged awkwardly.
"You and Da lived in this place?" Aries asked. "Unfortunately." Sirius sighed. "It's like a horror movie in here." Aries said with a grimaced.
"We should do that." Leo said, interrupting himself. Harry and Aries snorted.
"What scared you most?" Sirius asked jokingly. "The portrait and those heads of-what are those?" Aries asked with a shudder.
Aries shuddered at the memory.
"Those are house elves." Sirius said. "Are they all creepy like the one talking to the wall paper?" Aries asked.
"I think he stayed inside for too long." Harry added.
"I take it you've seen Kreacher." Sirius grimaced. "He's crazy." Aries whispered. "My mother loved him." Sirius spat. "Did your mother love that banshee portrait as well?" Aries asked.
Everyone laughed loudly as Aries blushed.
Sirius laughed loudly. "That was my mother." Sirius snickered. Aries looked horrified. "You're joking." He said. "Nope. That was your grandmother." Sirius said. "I take it we look like Grandfather?" Aries said. "Indeed we do." Sirius acknowledged.
"Thankfully." Arcturus said.
"Sirius!" Remus whispered as he wandered back up the stairs. "Hey Moony." Aries said with a wave. "He flooed over." Sirius explained. "And I'm going back to forget I ever saw this." Aries said with a weak smile.
"Never did." Aries said. "This actually explains a lot." Harry said.
"Touch nothing!" Sirius hissed as he walked Aries to the fireplace. "We're having a party tomorrow right?" Aries asked. "Of course! It's Harry's birthday and I plan on making up ten years of missed birthdays." Sirius said before sending Aries off.
Sirius grinned.
"Did he-" "He found out." Sirius said dejectedly. Remus patted his back. "We can deal with this later we got some doxys to kill." Remus said passing him a bottle of doxycide.
"Not sure what's worse." Frank admitted.
They managed to make a small dent in the infestation before they apparated back to Sirius' home. "Sirius! Remus! Andromeda said. "I'm sorry! I let Aries out of my sight and-" "It's fine Andy." Sirius said holding a hand up.
"Not as fine as it should be." Bellatrix muttered.
She looked at him worriedly. "Do you really have to go back there?" She asked in concern.
"I know I wouldn't." Alice said with a scrunched nose.
"As much as I would like for the place to rot into hell itself, I gotta do it for the boys." He said.
"You did a lot for us." Leo said. Sirius smiled proudly.
"You know they adore you right?" Andy asked warmly. Sirius smiled.
The three shared warm smiles.
"Harry almost reminded me of Dora when Ted would go off to work, and Leo wanted to get pranking tips." She said with a fond shake of her head.
Everyone chuckled.
"I brought some casserole for you all since I figured you'd be too tired to make dinner." Andromeda said. "Thanks Andy." Sirius said gratefully.
"I'm surprised you two had the energy to lift a fork." Harry said.
Remus stayed for dinner and the two of them told stories of the pranks they pulled at Hogwarts. Although, Remus had to cut him off when he forgot to filter himself.
"That was always hilarious." Aries said.
Soon Remus had to leave, and Sirius made the boys go to bed. "G'night." Sirius said. "Night, Papa." Leo yawned. "Night Padfoot." Harry and Aries said as they walked upstairs.
"Normal family life." Aries said with a grin.
Sirius sat alone and he put his hands over his face. "I'm sorry guys." He mumbled.
Everyone looked confused at the book.
He felt tired. He brooded over what happened today. 'House wife.' 'You're looking after me now.' 'Like Dora when Ted would go to work.'
No wonder he felt tired. He was trying to fill in five pairs of shoes. Shoes he shouldn't even try to fill.
"That's it." Leo said sadly. He put the book down and gave his dad a tight hug. "You did your best." He said. Sirius hugged him back tightly.