Sirius was living with Remus and Tonks. He had insisted he could go to Grimmauld Place but they had refused the idea saying it would be too dangerous and they would feel safer if Sirius lived with them. Bellatrix was after Tonks and an Order member staying with them would provide an extra protection.
It had been a week since Sirius' return but they hadn't told anybody about it. It carried a risk to communicate between Order members and they had thought it wouldn't be good if the Death Eaters learned about Sirius.
"Dad's on the run and I can't visit Mum much. We think her home is watched. After we rescued Harry from the Dursley's he was brought there and the Death Eaters are watching everywhere somehow linked to him. Also, it wouldn't be surprising if Bellatrix warned the guards about me too." Tonks was saying bitterly.
The three were in the kitchen. Remus was preparing tea for the three of them while Sirius and Tonks were sitting across each other around the table.
Sirius sighed. How things could change for the worst in such a short time period he didn't know. "Do they know about the baby?" he asked.
Remus put three cups of tea in front of them. Tonks nodded. "Yes, they know."
Sirius looked at his cup thoughtfully. Then a small smile crept on his face. "I can't believe we'll have a little Moony running around soon." he said squeezing Remus' shoulder. "What will you name him?"
Remus smiled and reached, held Tonks' hand. "We haven't decided yet." he replied. After a moment he added "But it definitely won't be Romulus." he said mock glaring at Tonks.
Tonks grinned while Sirius barked a laugh. "I don't know Moony. I think it has a nice ring to it."
Remus looked thoughtful. "Well, I reckon it's better than 'Sirius'." he said.
Sirius shrugged. "It's a family tradition to give your kid the worst name possible, right Nymphie?" he winked at Tonks who squinted her eyes at him.
"If you continue to call me that I'll maim you seriously Sirius." she growled as her hair turned into fiery red.
Sirius grinned at her, unfazed by her threat but before he could retort there was a knock on the door. The three looked at each other with wide eyes. "I'll open the door. Sirius go upstairs. We'll call you if it is someone from the Order." Remus said. Sirius nodded and quickly ascended the stairs.
He listened to downstairs but couldn't hear anything other than hushed voices. Then he heard the door closed and the voices moved towards the living room. A few minutes later Tonks came upstairs.
"It's the twins. You can come down if you want. They said they wanted to discuss something." Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Lead the way then."
When he entered the room after Tonks he couldn't help but laugh at the twins' reaction upon seeing him. Their eyes widened and mouths dropped open at the same time. "Hey kids!" he greeted them.
"Sirius?" asked Fred incredulously. "You're alive?" George's expression was no different than his brother's.
"I feel alive." Sirius replied dryly. They stared at him for a moment and then Sirius was surprised to see that the twins' expression turned angry.
"Where were you, you git? Do you have any idea what Harry went through after you supposedly 'died'?" asked Fred in a loud voice. Sirius felt a pang in his chest. He was a shit godfather. He had so much to make up to Harry.
"Hey, it wasn't his fault. Apparently that veil thing in the Ministry has other purposes. He traveled in time." Tonks defended her cousin. The twins looked baffled.
"Time-travel?" asked George disbelievingly. "So, you came from what? June 1996?" Sirius nodded. The twins looked at each other. Then they grinned and exclaimed at the same time "Wicked!". They turned to Sirius.
"Well, since you have a valid excuse you're forgiven." Fred said.
"You're still a git though because you let that curse hit you." George said frowning.
Sirius laughed. The twins got up and hugged him welcome. When Sirius noticed the missing ear of Fred his amusement replaced with anger. 'Snivellus will pay for everything he did.' he thought furiously. He tried to collect himself as he sat down.
In the next half an hour Sirius told them what happened after he fell through the veil. The twins seemed very intrigued by the concept of time-travel.
"So, what's up with you guys?" Sirius asked at last. The twins eagerly filled him about their joke shop. "We had to close the shop. Diagon Alley hasn't got much difference than Knockturn Alley these days." George said sadly. Fred nodded beside him. "We continue with owl order though. We mostly sell products from the defense section in our catalog like Shield Clothes, Decoy Detonators, Instant Darkness Powder..."
"You should have seen the shop Sirius. You'd love it. There were really impressive products. It's a pity they weren't existed when we were at school." Remus said approvingly.
The twins grinned and Sirius looked amused. "You finally returned to your old Marauder self huh Professor Moony." he said and clasped his shoulder. Remus rolled his eyes but there was a small smile on his lips.
"No need to be upset gentlemen. Here." Fred took out a booklet from his pocket and handed it to them. "This is our catalog. Just inform us what you want. We'll send them to you."
George nodded. "Since you are the Marauders..."
"The Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers" Fred supplied.
"It is our debt of honour not to take any money from you."
"Also, we expect we'll be family soon." Fred added happily, looking at Sirius.
Sirius confused. "What do you mean we'll be family?" he asked. The twins grinned at each other.
"Well, since you're Harry's godfather..." Fred began.
"...when ickle Ginnikins and ickle Harrikins get married..." George continued.
"...we'll be family." they finished.
Sirius felt his eyes widened. "Harry and Ginny?" he asked surprised. He hadn't noticed anything that indicated Harry had romantic feelings for Ginny when they were staying at Grimmauld Place.
"They dated last semester but they broke up because of You-Know-Who. Harry didn't want Ginny to be in danger while she's still under the Trace." George explained.
"We expect when the snake-face die, they'll get together again." Fred said.
Sirius felt mixed emotions. He liked Ginny. He could see she would become a strong, independent and beautiful young woman as she grew up and he liked the idea Harry and Ginny getting together. However, it broke his heart that they had to hide their relationship in fear of a psychopath. Also, Sirius felt bitter when he thought that he hadn't been there for Harry when he found his first love, couldn't give him advices or support him while all the other things were happening in his godson's life.
He thought Remus must have noticed what he was thinking because he gave him a small, sad smile and changed the topic. "So, what's that idea of yours, boys?"
The twins' expression turned serious. "Well, we have this idea for a while. We're thinking to create a radio program to inform people what is really happening outside." Fred said.
"All the newspapers and magazines side with the snake-face these days."
"Except for the Quibbler"
"We believe that rather than sit back we can do something about it. Lee's with us as well. We have found the equipment. Everything's mostly ready."
"We reckon maybe you want to join us as well. We'll use nicknames and change our location every time. We'll discuss it with Kingsley too." They explained.
Tonks looked thoughtful. "You know, I think it's a really good idea." she said.
Remus nodded. "I agree. The Order cannot do much these days. Everywhere under the control of Death Eaters. At least this way we'll be doing something worthwhile. What do you say?" he asked Sirius.
Sirius didn't hesitate. He was done with sitting at home and waiting. "I'm in." he said firmly.
Harry folded the Marauder's Map and put it into his rucksack. He looked at Hermione. "I want to go to Godric's Hollow." he blurted out. He was sitting on the floor leaning to his bed. Hermione was across him, sitting on one of the chairs.
She lifted her head from 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' and looked at him. "Yes, I think we should go there." she said thoughtfully.
Harry was taken aback. He was expecting some argument from Hermione saying it was too dangerous. "You do?"
She nodded. "Yes, Harry. I think the sword might be there. Dumbledore must have thought we would go to Godric's Hollow. It's the most logical choice." she said.
"Oh!" Harry hadn't thought about the sword at all. He wanted to go there just to see his parents' grave. "Why is that?"
Hermione gave him an impatient look. "Godric's Hollow is where Godric Gryffindor was born. Seriously Harry, if you have read 'Hogwarts: A History' just once, you would know this."
At that moment Hermione was looking so much like her usual self that Harry's lips quirked upward with a small smile. After Ron's leave she was in bad mood constantly.
"Well, I don't need to read it, do I? Since you memorized every single word in it, I can always ask you." Harry said cheekily.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him but continued her lecture. "The name comes from Godric Gryffindor himself. Also, it is an important historical place. In 'A History of Magic' Bathilda Bagshot says that Godric's Hollow is one of the villages that witches and wizards settled in after the International Statute of Secrecy was signed in 1689. You know Professor Dumbledore's family lived there too." She informed him.
Harry didn't say anything about Dumbledore. He still didn't know what to think about his late Headmaster. "So, we can go tomorrow then." he said hopefully. Hermione shook her head.
"I'm sorry Harry. I know you can't wait to visit your parents but don't you think You-Know-Who has spies there waiting for you to show up? We should carefully plan everything before we go."
Harry didn't argue. He knew Hermione was right but he was thinking about his parents, about his godfather a lot in these days that their absence was like an ache in his chest. He was hoping visiting his parents' graves would give him some comfort. Harry especially missed Sirius. He didn't remember his parents at all but in the short period of time that they had spent together, Sirius had helped Harry more than any adult in his life. He had always listened to him and when needed, tried to comfort him as best as he could and more than anything he had made Harry feel loved even though he had his own demons in his mind resulting from Azkaban. Harry had thought Sirius would be there for him whenever he needed. Now thinking Harry could see how naive he was back then. Sirius was gone and he didn't even have a grave since there was no body to bury.
Harry shook his head to escape from his depressing thoughts. Currently his life was miserable as it was without him drowning himself in grief too. He realized some of his thoughts must have been reflected on his expression because a moment later Hermione got up from her chair and sat beside him on the floor, giving him a hug.
"It won't be long Harry. Just a week at most." she said. Harry nodded and smiled at him. 'Just a week' he repeated in his mind.
I want to thank everyone who saw my story worthy enough to follow and add a comment. Some people even added my story to their favourites list! I appreciate it. This is my first attempt in writing and the fact that English is not my native language makes it even much more difficult for me. Please forgive me for any grammatical mistake that you noticed and don't hesitate to warn me.
