A/N) Erm... hi everyone. It's taken me a long time to write this chapter. I lost interest in Harry Potter. But I vowed to finish this story. This is the last chapter. I had to wind it up in this chapter otherwise I would keep going over the same ground again and again. Thank you to everyone for the support of this story!


Four

Ron was sitting on his bed, scrubbing away reluctantly, at the few silver trays his mother had brought up for him to clean. Ron didn't particularly wish to do this particular chore however he had little choice in the matter. Everyone had to pitch in to make Grimmauld Place habitable. Even he did.

There was a loud crack and he jumped, the plates tumbling to the floor in a loud crash. He glared at his two identical brothers who had just Apparated into his room. He threw the dirty rag at Fred's face but the twin deflected it and the cloth fell to the floor.

"Did you have to do that?" grumped Ron, annoyed.

"Yeah," Fred grinned. "'Cos it's fun to surprise you!"

"Besides," George folded his arms across his chest. "Why shouldn't we Apparate anywhere now? We have the licence for it!"

"Can't you go and annoy someone else?" groaned Ron. "I want to get this job done before lunchtime."

"In the absence of Percy, you are our only entertainment," answered Fred. "Besides if we help you finish this job, then we can annoy you even more!"

Ron groaned. Why couldn't they go away? "Can't you go and bother Sirius or Lupin? I'm sure they are far more entertaining than me, sitting here polishing these silver trays! I don't see why I have to do this! Sirius won't use them. He'll just chuck 'em!"

There was a creak from outside his room. The twins turned and stared at one another before Apparating instantly.

"Great," muttered Ron, "that's probably mum." She had probably heard him badmouthing Sirius' inheritance. He wasn't interested in it anyway, so why should he be fussed about some trays they were not going to use?

His door creaked opened and he prepared himself for the worst. Ron was surprised when a calm and familiar voice spoke instead. "You are correct. I will just chuck them."

A wide grin spread across Ron's mouth as he twisted his body to see his visitor clearer. "Sirius!"

Sirius held out his hands. "Here. I'll take them. No point in cleaning them if I am not going to be making any use of them, is there?"

Ron did a fist-pump, thrilled he had managed to get out of a chore he so desperately hated.

"Mum will just find something else for you to do," snickered Fred, "as soon as she finds out you got out of this chore she gave you."

An evil glint appeared in George's eye.

"You can't!" shouted Ron.

Sirius glanced at the twins. "What if I propose a trade with you?"

Fred shared a look with George. The twins both crossed their arms at the same time, plopping themselves down on the bed next to Ron. "It depends on what the trade is."

Sirius pretended to scratch his chin as if he was in deep thought. "Well… What if I shared some secrets of the Marauders? Sharing secrets doesn't mean I am enticing you two to misbehave…"

"You would go against our parent's wishes?" asked George.

"As I said sharing secrets isn't enticing you two. You are perfectly capable of doing that yourselves without my interference," pointed out Sirius. "So, if you promise not to snitch on Ron, then I see no reason why I shouldn't tell you both more tales of the Marauders exploits at Hogwarts! So, which is it? Snitch on your brother or let him have fun for once?"

The twins didn't need a moment to consider.

Fred turned to Ron. "Yeah, take the day off. You deserve it, Ron!"

Ron laughed. "Only because you want to use him to further your own joke careers!" He turned to Sirius. "Thanks! I owe you!"

Sirius waved a hand, dismissing Ron's gesture. "Don't bother. You helped save me at Hogwarts. It's the least I could do."

Ron rubbed his hands in glee. He knew exactly what he wanted to do.


Molly was quite surprised when she found Ron lying on the top of his bed, a Quidditch book covering his face, snoring away. There were no signs of any silver trays in sight. What had her son done with them? She had given him a simple task and he had – undoubtedly – found a way to get out of doing the chore. She shook her head, growling deeply in her throat in frustration. Ron was at a difficult age but that did not mean he should be skirting responsibilities he was given. How else would he succeed in being a prefect this year if he tried to dodge any form of responsibility?

Molly shook her head. There was no guarantee Ron would be made a prefect. But she lived in hope he would be.

She cleared her throat and Ron jumped, the book falling from his face onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Mum!" His eyes widened in surprise.

She crossed her arms and glared at her youngest son. "Ronald Weasley. Where are those silver trays I told you to clean?"

"Sirius has them," he responded.

Molly found that hard to believe. The man didn't like living in the house so why would he willingly take something from Ron. "I want the truth, Ronald."

"It is the truth!" replied Ron adamantly. "Sirius said he didn't want them and told me to give them to him so he could chuck 'em!"

"If you are lying to get out of a job you know what will happen, Ronald!" continued Molly.

Ron huffed. "Yes."

"He's not lying, Molly," a soft voice from behind her said.

She turned and saw in Sirius Black's hands the trays she had given Ron to clean. They were sparkling clean. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Did you do that?"

Black shook his head. "No. Ron did. He'd just finished when I told him I didn't want them. There's no point in cleaning stuff if I'm not going to be using it. I'd like it if you would consult me first before deciding what I should be keeping."

"The trays are a family heirloom…" she started.

Black shook his head. "I'm not interested. Anything that associates me with them is not for me." He held up the trays. "Especially these with the Black family crest and our mantra engraved in the centre. I don't want to be reminded how my family was so into that decree. I would hope you at least would understand… I was unhappy here. There was a reason I ran away from home and it wasn't because I was rebellious. It was because I was living with people I had no love for or for their way of life. Witches like Hermione Granger deserve a chance to prosper in our society. Why shouldn't they? They are not different from any of us. If Lily was still here she would have contributed greatly to our society but her life was sadly taken from her before she had a chance to flourish." He bowed his head.

Molly sensed the guilt welling up inside him.

"Sorry. My parent's views angered me and I wanted to do anything I could to change it. In the end… their views, their way of lie doomed me in the end," said Sirius. "No one could see past the name and it condemned me to prison without a trial. And I know my actions made me look guilty… it didn't mean I was. I thought at my trial I'd be given the chance to explain myself, that the truth would come out… the fact is, I wasn't given one." He glanced at the trays he held in his hands. "These are a living reminder of what I want to forget and move away from. I want to change the perception of the Black family. The only way to do that is to destroy everything that even hints towards our motto 'Toujours Pur'. My family may have tossed aside those of us who were unwilling to follow that creed but I want to bring those people back, to show the Wizarding World that not all of us are self-righteous bigots."

Molly stood there, staring at Black in surprise. She knew he was different from the rest of the Black family but it was still difficult to associate him with the likes of Dumbledore considering his actions. It was hard for her to see him as someone not who she thought he was and a part of her wanted to help him but another was afraid this was a trick by You-Know-Who to get close to Harry.

She shook her head. She was being paranoid. Molly glanced at her son who was watching their exchange carefully.

"Mum, Sirius is alright. You don't need to be scared of him," said Ron.

"I'm not," replied Molly quickly. The truth was, no matter how much she tried to deny it, she was scared of Black, even if her opinion of him was slowly changing. He still had the abilities to join the dark side – Dumbledore had admitted as much – and there was always the chance he would see he was on the wrong side…

But…

She was misjudging him, trying to rationalise things to fit the profile of him she had built up. He was not a murderer. He was an innocent man who had suffered for many years inside Azkaban prison for a crime he had not committed. Molly chose to ignore her misjudgements and decided to look at him in a new light.

He wanted to change. And he would do anything he could to protect Harry. If given the chance he would be out there now, protecting his godson, making sure he was safe. His actions at Hogwarts a few years ago, though may have been selfish, had been committed with love. He had sought to save Harry. For that she had to be grateful for. But now, because You-Know-Who would know of his disguise he couldn't risk stepping outside.

The quietness was going on between them for too long. "Sirius…" she started. "You really are different, aren't you?"

Sirius shrugged. "As I said, the Black family do have those of us who have made our own decisions rather than follow the opinions of others. I was one of those, not what you would expect from the Black heir." He glanced at her son who was watching their conversation from the door to his room. "And if helping your family out is the least I can do, I will. I don't want you to be breaking your backs attempting to get this house fit for human habitation. Anything that I don't need, I'm happy to chuck. Even if it is dirty. I don't want to profit from any heirlooms that are mine especially since they represent a background I am not proud to be a part of. It all deserves to be in the bin."

Molly bit her lower lip. She could understand Sirius' viewpoint but what if he came to regret his choice later?

"I won't."

He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking or had an idea of it at least. It was nice he wanted to help their family but Molly hated the thought of throwing away perfectly useable stuff just because they represented a background that Sirius hated.

"Please, Molly?" the voice was soft, caring even.

She stared at Black. He was genuinely asking her to respect his choice. He didn't expect her to do what he wanted but he was putting out an olive branch and she could choose to take it thereby accepting him. Yet again, Sirius Black was showing that he wasn't the man she had once thought he was.

Molly sighed. "Of course. But how do I know what you would want kept?"

Sirius smiled lightly. "Anything that has my family's creed on it can go straight in the bin. Stuff with just the Black family crest on it, can you leave aside for me to look at so I can decide whether it is worth having? I know I will have to keep some things but I do want to get rid of anything that alludes to my family's beliefs. It's the only way to move on and try to show that this Pure-blood family is capable of change."

"Ok, I will do that," Molly answered. He was being nice to her and she couldn't refuse a request like that, not when he was putting in the effort to make her feel at ease.

And she was feeling more at ease with Black.

"Thank you," he smiled back at her: that simple gesture lighting up his features made all the difference.

She watched as Sirius walked away. Once the man had started to walk down the stairs, she turned to face Ron who had been watching the entire conversation.

"See, he's ok, isn't he?"

"I was already beginning to think that, Ron, but sometimes the habits of over a decade take a long time to disappear," she explained. "And Sirius is making it easier."

Because he was and Molly could not, not recognise his efforts, could she?


Arthur watched his children at dinner. He'd had a busy day at the Ministry and was quite tired but he couldn't help but watch as Sirius spoke to Ginny, helping her with a difficult essay she had to complete for the new term. It amazed Arthur how knowledgeable Black was. He had the brains to have been a truly great wizard but one mistake had ruined his entire future.

Arthur hoped Black may be able to have a future instead of being cooped up in his house. Molly had told him about her conversation with Sirius and how she was feeling more secure around him.

Arthur pushed his empty plate away and walked around the table to stand beside Ginny and Sirius. The younger man looked up at him. "Sirius, can I talk to you?"

The younger man's eyes flashed wearily but he nodded.

"I'll be back in a minute, Ginny," said Sirius, then he pointed to a paragraph that Ginny had her left hand over it. "I suggest trying to revise this paragraph and maybe try to get a reference in about how people always suspected witches in the middle ages but rarely found wizards. Why was that?"

Ginny smiled. "Thanks!"

Arthur left the door open for Sirius to follow him. They went into a small office that adjoined the kitchen. Arthur presumed it had once belonged to Sirius' father. It had been cleaned and cleared out of anything Sirius did not want. Only a few books remained – specifically ones that did not contain any references to the preferred blood purity that Blacks were known for.

Sirius hesitated before sitting down in one of the chairs.

Arthur remained standing. He had to make this count. "You know we didn't trust you at first, don't you?"

Sirius nodded. "It's hard to regain that trust when people have believed the lies for so long. I know my own actions didn't help that…"

"It is. However you have shown that we can trust you. You have helped us feel at home here and you care for my children. Harry is lucky to have you," said Arthur. "You are there for him when others could not be."

Sirius frowned. "I should have been there for him since his parents died and I wasn't."

"You are now," pointed out Arthur.

Sirius was about to respond when Arthur shook his head.

"The reason I wanted to speak to you was to say I trust you, not with just Harry's life or mine, but with my children and my wife's. If you were the last line of defence I know you would do anything you could to protect them," swallowed Arthur.

"I would," answered Sirius quietly. "I'm glad you trust me… That's all I want is for people to see me for who I really am."

Arthur clapped a hand on Sirius' back, smiling lightly. "When this is over and your innocence is proven, I will gladly support you in whatever you want to do. It's the least I can do after what you've done for my family. Thank you."

And Arthur meant that.


Molly wasn't surprised when her husband told her what he had spoken to Sirius Black about. She had been expecting Arthur to do so after the kind reception they had received in their short time at Grimmauld Place so far.

"Arthur…" she began, "I know you offered Sirius our help and support… I'm not sure he will take it."

Arthur grunted, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in, in the living room. "I don't think he will either but he needs to know there are people out there who support him. He will need to have reputable people backing him otherwise others in our society won't ever believe him. If he already has backing then it may help others accept him. And Sirius will always have Harry."

Molly smiled. "He will… Even if he isn't the best role model for him."

"I don't think that matters," frowned Arthur. "He's a link to Harry for his past which is what he needs."

Molly bit her lip. She wasn't going to argue and she could understand where Arthur was coming from.

"I think the main thing we have learned is that Sirius isn't a bad person. I do trust him," explained Arthur.

Molly nodded. "He's not the person I thought he was. He has a reputation that he doesn't deserve. I'm glad my opinion has changed."

"Me too," answered Arthur quietly, reaching across to squeeze his wife's hand.

Molly sighed. She was glad she had listened to Dumbledore and given Sirius Black a chance. He was not the person she had once thought he was. He was a good person.

But most of all, she trusted him.

Completely.

And it took a good person to completely change one pre-set opinion of another.

She was glad Sirius Black had succeeded in that. He deserved it, after all.

The End

Please let me know what you think!

I'm not sure if I will write another Harry Potter fic at present. I have an idea I'd like to write but if I do decide to write it, it will be prewritten. The problem with losing interest in something, it makes it hard to actually write about it. I do apologise for the wait. I hope this chapter was worth it!

Thank you.

the-writer1988