The Burrow was bustling with people and noise. In the kitchen, Mrs.
Weasley had several wands in her hand, each of which was controlling the
preparation of a different dish. Mr. Weasley was busily getting all the
silverware, plates and glasses out. In the front yard Bill and Charlie
were supposed to be setting up two long tables. But they had their wands
out, and each one was making a table fly fifteen feet in the air. Not only
were the tables flying- they were having a midair duel as Fred and George
cheered them on. Ron, Ginny and Hermione were sitting around the fireplace
making banners that said Happy Birthday Harry. Actually, it was really
Hermione who was trying to enchant the letters she had written on the
banner while Ron and Ginny made unhelpful suggestions. Percy was, of
course, up in his room under the pretext of doing work. (Though the boys
suspected he was actually writing a love letter to his fiancée, Penelope,
who was visiting her family in the south of France.)
Ron, Hermione and Ginny excitedly discussed the upcoming school year. They were making plans for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year.
"So are we going to go back into the Shrieking Shack again?" Ginny asked mischievously. The three Gryffendors, plus Harry, of course, had used the abandoned house a few times the previous year to get some peace and quiet. The only entrance was accessed at the base of the Whomping Willow and came out in the middle of the shack's living room. It really was the best place for them to go to be undisturbed- if you didn't mind the dust.
"I don't know," Hermione said looking up from her work. Ginny had drawn a little Firebolt for her, and now she was trying to make it zoom around the sign. "I always worry a bit about going there. You know, someone coming in." She locked eyes with Ron and gave a little smile. Ron's ears reddened and he immediately pretended to find cleaning his wand fascinating as Hermione looked back down at the drawing. "But since Snape is the only other person at school who knows about it, there's really no reason to worry."
"Yeah," Ron put in venomously. "And the last time he went there he gave Sirius to Fudge, who was more than happy to give him the Dementor's Kiss. As it turned out he practically forced Remus to leave Hogwarts."
"I hope Snape couldn't look at himself in the mirror once he found out Sirius was cleared," Ginny said quietly.
Hermione put her arm around the younger girl. "I know Ginn, Snape should have been ashamed of himself." She knew how attached Ginny had gotten to both Remus and Sirius. Remus was her favorite professor, as he had been most people's favorite. He and Ginny had exchanged owls throughout the school years after he left Hogwarts. He was something between a caring older brother, a father and a friend to her. As for Sirius, she had gotten to know him better during the summer after her third year. Mrs. Weasley had finally gotten over the initial shock that Sirius Black was not in fact a dangerous murderer. She and Mr. Weasley invited him to use their house to hide, as opposed to staying in caves outside of Hogsmeade. During the summer they learned first hand why Sirius and his gang had had a reputation for their antics. He had a sense of humor to rival that of Fred and George. Mrs. Weasley had the sneaking suspicion that Sirius had been helping the twins with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, as well as supplying them with even more pranks for their final year at Hogwarts. She frequently commented that for the summer she had triplets, instead of twins.
"Well anyway," Ginny continued, that mischievous glint returning to her eyes-after all she wasn't a Weasley for nothing. "I was thinking that if we were planning to go back, that maybe we could fix it up a little. I found a cleaning charm that looked useful. And I thought maybe we could even get a bit of new furniture."
Ron looked excited but perplexed. "But where do you think we can get some decent used furniture? It's not like we can afford a brand new couch."
"Actually," Ginny replied, "I already have the new furniture part taken care of. I overheard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick that our common room needed new furniture. She was planning to replace it all over the summer." She paused a moment and looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione who were both wearing the same expression.
"So you asked her to give you the furniture from the commons room?" Hermione asked incredulously.
Ginny nodded. "Right before we left, McGonagall helped me shrink it all and it's been upstairs in my trunk all summer."
"Well it's settled then," Ron said beaming at his sister. "We'll just have to go back to the Shrieking Shack and see if we can't make it look decent."
At that moment all plans of the Shrieking Shack were momentarily forgotten as they heard three pops in the fireplace. First Sirius appeared, then Remus, then the guest of honor, Harry. All three of his friends exclaimed "Happy Birthday!" as they jumped up to greet Harry and the two men.
~ ~ ~
Outside the sun was setting, and the air was filled with conversations of the occupants of the two large tables outside the Burrow. Remus and Percy were engaged in a conversation about Percy's latest project at the Ministry. And if the subject of Percy's report didn't fascinate Remus, he wasn't showing any signs of it. Sirius, Arthur and Molly had finally moved on from reminiscing about their memories of Hogwarts to discuss news from Diagon Alley. Fred was in the kitchen refilling some dish, and Charlie, Bill, and George were excitedly talking about the future of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
It was still hard to believe that the twins now owned Zonko's Joke Shop. Only two months ago Zonko had decided to retire. He was too old to be working in the store all day, and he had always wanted to move somewhere with a warmer climate. So when he decided to sell the shop he didn't even put an add in the Daily Prophet, he simply owled the boys telling them the news, making a very reasonable offer. It made perfect sense though. Fred and George were the most frequent Zonko's customers Hogwarts had ever seen, except perhaps for the Marauders in their day. The kind owner had even helped the twins perfect some of their inventions. And now Fred and George were the owners of the only joke shop in the only all-wizard city in Britain. Even Mrs. Weasley, as much as she hated to admit it, was proud of her boys.
At the opposite end of the table Ginny had just finished filling Harry in on the plans for the Shrieking Shack. Harry looked just as shocked as Ron and Hermione had when Ginny came to the part about the 'new' furniture. He shook his head in amazement. "You know Ginny," Harry said, "if I had asked McGonagall about the furniture, she probably would have told me off for being nosy. That was really good thinking!"
Ginny blushed a little at the compliment and mumbled that it was nothing.
Ron hadn't really being paying attention to the conversation for the past few minutes. He was busy looking at Hermione, trying silently to get her attention. Finally she felt his eyes on her and turned her head to look at him. Ron raised his eyebrows as if he was asking her a question and tilted his head slightly towards Harry and Ginny. For a few seconds Hermione chewed on her lower lip deep in thought, then she smiled at Ron and nodded.
"Um… Harry, Ginny, we want to tell you something. But we don't want the others to hear." Ron continued somewhat unsteadily in a quiet tone. "Well what we wanted to say was… er, that… uh what I mean is…"
"Oh for Merlin's sake Ron," said Hermione. "What he means is that the two of us are going out. We've kind of been dating since this past April, but we were a little nervous about saying anything."
"You know how we can start arguing so easily sometimes," Ron added, somewhat sheepishly. "And we just didn't want to mess anything up."
"That's wonderful!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry nodded his head in agreement. "In some strange way," he added, "I think you two are perfect for each other."
Hermione hugged them both and as she leaned back in her chair she took Ron's hand under the table. They were smiling at each other, but trying to make it look normal so no one else would notice.
Suddenly Ginny started giggling. Looking at either Ron or Hermione would start a new fit of giggles. Finally she had her laughter under control. "So that's what Hermione was going on about with someone coming in! Because of the time we came in looking for you after all our exams. Oooo," she said, "Ron and Hermione wanted time alone."
Suddenly they noticed Fred standing behind Ron's chair with a bowl in his hands. "Oh we have to tell the others the good news!" he squealed. "Who would have ever expected it out of our dear little Ronnie-kins and sweet Hermione the prefect." Fred pretended to look scandalized at the information he overheard.
Before Fred had the chance to utter another word Ron popped up from his chair. "Mum we're all going upstairs now to give Harry his presents." And the four of them ran towards the Burrow.
~ ~ ~
Sirius stretched and yawned. "Well, I'm exhausted. I think Remus and I are going to head back home. I'll just run up and tell Harry to stay as long as he wants if that's ok with you Molly."
"Of course, he can stay as long as he wants."
~ ~ ~
A few minutes later, after saying goodbye to the Weasleys, Sirius and Remus apparated back to their house. "There's something upstairs I want to show you Moony," said Sirius. "Would you go into the bedroom, I'll be there in a minute."
"Do you honestly think you could keep me out of the bedroom if I knew you were going to be there?" Remus said as he walked up the stairs.
Sirius smiled a bit as he rummaged through a draw in the kitchen. He found the little box he was looking for buried under some old copies of the Daily Prophet. 'Good,' he thought, 'still where I left it. Remus didn't find it.' He took a few deep breaths and shoved his nerves aside as he went up stairs. He had always been a now or never type of guy.
Remus was sitting on the bed waiting. "Moony, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time." Sirius then kneeled down on the floor and looked up into Remus' eyes. "You know I love you so much, and… well I'm not really that good with words. So I wanted to sing you something." Remus nodded, and Sirius started his song.
"When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.
If I've been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
"You'll be older too-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo,
And it you say the word,
I could stay with you.
"I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
"Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and sa-aa-aa-aa, aa-aa-aa-ave
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck and Dave.
"Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four."
Sirius opened the little box and took out a gold band. "Do you think you would mind too terribly much if we spent the rest of our lives together?"
Remus smiled at him and wiped his tearing eyes. He took the ring in his hand looked at it. Inside was the inscription ~Yours forevermore, Sirius~. "I think that is the sweetest thing you have ever done for me Sirius," he said. "Of course I'll marry you. I had always assumed you were stuck with me anyway." He leaned down and kissed Sirius, who was still kneeling on the floor in front of him. "You know I love you too, so so much. And if you ask very nicely," he added, "I might even take your last name."
~ Fin ~
Ron, Hermione and Ginny excitedly discussed the upcoming school year. They were making plans for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year.
"So are we going to go back into the Shrieking Shack again?" Ginny asked mischievously. The three Gryffendors, plus Harry, of course, had used the abandoned house a few times the previous year to get some peace and quiet. The only entrance was accessed at the base of the Whomping Willow and came out in the middle of the shack's living room. It really was the best place for them to go to be undisturbed- if you didn't mind the dust.
"I don't know," Hermione said looking up from her work. Ginny had drawn a little Firebolt for her, and now she was trying to make it zoom around the sign. "I always worry a bit about going there. You know, someone coming in." She locked eyes with Ron and gave a little smile. Ron's ears reddened and he immediately pretended to find cleaning his wand fascinating as Hermione looked back down at the drawing. "But since Snape is the only other person at school who knows about it, there's really no reason to worry."
"Yeah," Ron put in venomously. "And the last time he went there he gave Sirius to Fudge, who was more than happy to give him the Dementor's Kiss. As it turned out he practically forced Remus to leave Hogwarts."
"I hope Snape couldn't look at himself in the mirror once he found out Sirius was cleared," Ginny said quietly.
Hermione put her arm around the younger girl. "I know Ginn, Snape should have been ashamed of himself." She knew how attached Ginny had gotten to both Remus and Sirius. Remus was her favorite professor, as he had been most people's favorite. He and Ginny had exchanged owls throughout the school years after he left Hogwarts. He was something between a caring older brother, a father and a friend to her. As for Sirius, she had gotten to know him better during the summer after her third year. Mrs. Weasley had finally gotten over the initial shock that Sirius Black was not in fact a dangerous murderer. She and Mr. Weasley invited him to use their house to hide, as opposed to staying in caves outside of Hogsmeade. During the summer they learned first hand why Sirius and his gang had had a reputation for their antics. He had a sense of humor to rival that of Fred and George. Mrs. Weasley had the sneaking suspicion that Sirius had been helping the twins with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, as well as supplying them with even more pranks for their final year at Hogwarts. She frequently commented that for the summer she had triplets, instead of twins.
"Well anyway," Ginny continued, that mischievous glint returning to her eyes-after all she wasn't a Weasley for nothing. "I was thinking that if we were planning to go back, that maybe we could fix it up a little. I found a cleaning charm that looked useful. And I thought maybe we could even get a bit of new furniture."
Ron looked excited but perplexed. "But where do you think we can get some decent used furniture? It's not like we can afford a brand new couch."
"Actually," Ginny replied, "I already have the new furniture part taken care of. I overheard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick that our common room needed new furniture. She was planning to replace it all over the summer." She paused a moment and looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione who were both wearing the same expression.
"So you asked her to give you the furniture from the commons room?" Hermione asked incredulously.
Ginny nodded. "Right before we left, McGonagall helped me shrink it all and it's been upstairs in my trunk all summer."
"Well it's settled then," Ron said beaming at his sister. "We'll just have to go back to the Shrieking Shack and see if we can't make it look decent."
At that moment all plans of the Shrieking Shack were momentarily forgotten as they heard three pops in the fireplace. First Sirius appeared, then Remus, then the guest of honor, Harry. All three of his friends exclaimed "Happy Birthday!" as they jumped up to greet Harry and the two men.
~ ~ ~
Outside the sun was setting, and the air was filled with conversations of the occupants of the two large tables outside the Burrow. Remus and Percy were engaged in a conversation about Percy's latest project at the Ministry. And if the subject of Percy's report didn't fascinate Remus, he wasn't showing any signs of it. Sirius, Arthur and Molly had finally moved on from reminiscing about their memories of Hogwarts to discuss news from Diagon Alley. Fred was in the kitchen refilling some dish, and Charlie, Bill, and George were excitedly talking about the future of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
It was still hard to believe that the twins now owned Zonko's Joke Shop. Only two months ago Zonko had decided to retire. He was too old to be working in the store all day, and he had always wanted to move somewhere with a warmer climate. So when he decided to sell the shop he didn't even put an add in the Daily Prophet, he simply owled the boys telling them the news, making a very reasonable offer. It made perfect sense though. Fred and George were the most frequent Zonko's customers Hogwarts had ever seen, except perhaps for the Marauders in their day. The kind owner had even helped the twins perfect some of their inventions. And now Fred and George were the owners of the only joke shop in the only all-wizard city in Britain. Even Mrs. Weasley, as much as she hated to admit it, was proud of her boys.
At the opposite end of the table Ginny had just finished filling Harry in on the plans for the Shrieking Shack. Harry looked just as shocked as Ron and Hermione had when Ginny came to the part about the 'new' furniture. He shook his head in amazement. "You know Ginny," Harry said, "if I had asked McGonagall about the furniture, she probably would have told me off for being nosy. That was really good thinking!"
Ginny blushed a little at the compliment and mumbled that it was nothing.
Ron hadn't really being paying attention to the conversation for the past few minutes. He was busy looking at Hermione, trying silently to get her attention. Finally she felt his eyes on her and turned her head to look at him. Ron raised his eyebrows as if he was asking her a question and tilted his head slightly towards Harry and Ginny. For a few seconds Hermione chewed on her lower lip deep in thought, then she smiled at Ron and nodded.
"Um… Harry, Ginny, we want to tell you something. But we don't want the others to hear." Ron continued somewhat unsteadily in a quiet tone. "Well what we wanted to say was… er, that… uh what I mean is…"
"Oh for Merlin's sake Ron," said Hermione. "What he means is that the two of us are going out. We've kind of been dating since this past April, but we were a little nervous about saying anything."
"You know how we can start arguing so easily sometimes," Ron added, somewhat sheepishly. "And we just didn't want to mess anything up."
"That's wonderful!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry nodded his head in agreement. "In some strange way," he added, "I think you two are perfect for each other."
Hermione hugged them both and as she leaned back in her chair she took Ron's hand under the table. They were smiling at each other, but trying to make it look normal so no one else would notice.
Suddenly Ginny started giggling. Looking at either Ron or Hermione would start a new fit of giggles. Finally she had her laughter under control. "So that's what Hermione was going on about with someone coming in! Because of the time we came in looking for you after all our exams. Oooo," she said, "Ron and Hermione wanted time alone."
Suddenly they noticed Fred standing behind Ron's chair with a bowl in his hands. "Oh we have to tell the others the good news!" he squealed. "Who would have ever expected it out of our dear little Ronnie-kins and sweet Hermione the prefect." Fred pretended to look scandalized at the information he overheard.
Before Fred had the chance to utter another word Ron popped up from his chair. "Mum we're all going upstairs now to give Harry his presents." And the four of them ran towards the Burrow.
~ ~ ~
Sirius stretched and yawned. "Well, I'm exhausted. I think Remus and I are going to head back home. I'll just run up and tell Harry to stay as long as he wants if that's ok with you Molly."
"Of course, he can stay as long as he wants."
~ ~ ~
A few minutes later, after saying goodbye to the Weasleys, Sirius and Remus apparated back to their house. "There's something upstairs I want to show you Moony," said Sirius. "Would you go into the bedroom, I'll be there in a minute."
"Do you honestly think you could keep me out of the bedroom if I knew you were going to be there?" Remus said as he walked up the stairs.
Sirius smiled a bit as he rummaged through a draw in the kitchen. He found the little box he was looking for buried under some old copies of the Daily Prophet. 'Good,' he thought, 'still where I left it. Remus didn't find it.' He took a few deep breaths and shoved his nerves aside as he went up stairs. He had always been a now or never type of guy.
Remus was sitting on the bed waiting. "Moony, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time." Sirius then kneeled down on the floor and looked up into Remus' eyes. "You know I love you so much, and… well I'm not really that good with words. So I wanted to sing you something." Remus nodded, and Sirius started his song.
"When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.
If I've been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
"You'll be older too-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo,
And it you say the word,
I could stay with you.
"I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
"Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and sa-aa-aa-aa, aa-aa-aa-ave
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck and Dave.
"Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four."
Sirius opened the little box and took out a gold band. "Do you think you would mind too terribly much if we spent the rest of our lives together?"
Remus smiled at him and wiped his tearing eyes. He took the ring in his hand looked at it. Inside was the inscription ~Yours forevermore, Sirius~. "I think that is the sweetest thing you have ever done for me Sirius," he said. "Of course I'll marry you. I had always assumed you were stuck with me anyway." He leaned down and kissed Sirius, who was still kneeling on the floor in front of him. "You know I love you too, so so much. And if you ask very nicely," he added, "I might even take your last name."
~ Fin ~