And life goes on. Hope it's going well on your end! Hope you guys Enjoy!
There were three things that Sirius was aware enough to comprehend at the given moment in time. One, that Molly Weasley sat across the table with a disapproving frown that made him feel unpleasantly like a small child again. Two, every red head that wasn't Molly Weasley was looking at him with eyes so saturated in curiosity he was astounded they could blink. And three? Well, he had little doubt about the two both being connected to his conversation with The Order. How the younger found out about it- well, he supposed that was inevitable anyways.
He swallowed down the cider in his cup, with a record breaking two gulps. The redheads watched, and he returned with steady eye contact. The room was stiff with silence, Molly's shoulders drawn straight across the back of her chair. Sirius swiped at a stray hair, patted his chest, and let loose the mother- no, the kick ass grandma of all burps. It ended in a crooked grin,and he was very sure that James was clapping in his grave at that one.
Judging by Molly's look, he was soon to join Prongs in that venture. Her cheeks flushed a rosy hue, and her lips pursed, "Manners!" It wasn't a shriek per se. But it was about as close as Molly could get without the children being able to accuse the portly woman of one. From behind, the twins beamed in glee, and both let out burps of a similar caliber. The woman's curls were stood on end, and her hands swatted at the two, "Scoundrels the lot of you! Out, get out!" The twins danced along the floor and around her urging.
"Mother dear-"
"-Forge and I simply replied in kind-"
"-to our dear friend, Sirius"
"Out!" She swung the dining room door open.
"Gee mum-"
"wouldn't think you'd be so rude-"
"-to our kind host-"
"-Sirius-ly,"
"You-" She puffed up like a feathered pillow. And this pillow seemed ready to burst, "Out! Out! Out of my kitchen you scoundrels!" She swatted at the two, chasing the twins out of the room with a vengeance. The bystanders- or rather, any who were laughing, were next, and before Sirius could call out the name for the shade of red Molly's face had turned- he had joined them.
"S'not a kitchen mum, It's a dining room!" Ron called, with lopsided cheek.
"Ron!" Ginny snapped the boy across the arm, causing the elder to jump.
"Hey!" He rubbed the sore spot. He was sure there would be a bruise there by tomorrow, "Well, looks like one of us inherited Mum's-Ow!"
Sirius laughed, glancing back at the door for a second time. Had he just been kicked out of his own dining hall? Well, he made himself comfortable along the wall either way. Merlin knew how many times he'd been kicked out by his 'family' before for any number of reasons alongside his mere existence -these circumstances were much more welcome , "I don't think it's just your Mum, all women have scary strength when we men get stupid," Likewise, Ginny huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. Sirius laughed again. "It's good to have you kids around. This place could use some of your energy,"
"But of course-"
"-Ol' chap!" The closer of the twins slapped Sirius in the back, with a too wide grin that probably definitely meant they were trying to be obnoxious. He rolled his eyes at the two, though even he had to acknowledge the sneaking grin that eased onto his face.
"Down to business though, don't think I missed those looks in there," He crossed his arms, doing his very best to channel all non-existant parenting-disapproval, "You lot listened in on the meeting, and are curious now too, arent ya?"
The red heads froze, not daring to even breath in front of him, "Why old boy!" One of the twins picked up.
"Where ever would you get an idea like that?"
Sirius grinned a look that would have made the marauders proud. "Sure, sure, so I guess that means you don't want to know more…?" he started leaning his way back into the kitchen. He might have made it too, if not for the several pairs of hands that caught him and drug him back.
"No! -I mean -um -they never tell us anything...and it seems pretty important..and-" Sirius barked out a laugh, and patted the top of the girl's red head.
"Important? Sure...see, I met the bloke in Azkaban. He was probably seventeen or eighteen back then, would've been oh...three years ago now? He was a real funny guy, and in a place like azkaban...you don't see people like him. Merlin knows how he ended up in there, but he really didn't fit in with the rest. Never started losing his mind like the rest of em. But it was odd"
"He was only eighteen? What can a bloke do to get sent to azkaban that young?" Ron mumbled, though not quite quiet enough to go unheard.
"Never asked," Sirius shrugged, "Never really needed to...he was a good pal either way. Can't imagine a guy like him kicking a puppy, much less being a death eater. He used to build fires for the other prisoners on nights it rained, and he kept a lot of them company after the dementors had made a visit."
"Wait, fires in prison?" Ginny halted, face contorting uncomfortably at the slip.
"Heh," Sirius ruffled the side of his head with one hand, "Azkaban's not like any prison you'd imagine it to be. It's worse that that. You see, when a place like Azkaban is made, with walls as high as the sky, in a place no one can find unless they already know where it is, surrounded by raging ice cold waters, and countless magical barriers- what's the point of monitoring a place like that? Azkaban is left to it's own devices -and with the dementors, no one has the presence of mind to try and think around the prison anyways. Once our wand's are snapped, we're dumped in there, and that's the end of it."
There was a still silence at the new revelation. Something heavy had fallen in the red head's lap at that new revelation. That such a place existed- Ginny didn't want to try to imagine, and oh -even the twins were shocked.
"Oh! You said-" Ginny clamped a hand over her brother's mouth
"I did say, didn't I?" Sirius bowed his head, grinning in remembrance, though it wasn't completely happy. His eyes had glazed over not long into the story, "The guy scared the pants off dementors. Don't know why or how, but they never went near him,"
"That has to be some seriously powerful dark magic," Ron hissed over to his sister. Ginny hissed back, and slapped Ron across his arm.
"Shutup, Ron!"
Sirius jolted at the accusation, but not in any sort of anger. It had snapped him back to reality, and he was tapping his chin, as if he was seriously considering the idea of his friend using forbidden magic.
"Maybe," He conceded, "But keep in mind, all us prisoner's wands were snapped before going into azkaban." He met Ron's eyes levelly, "Now, you tell me what spell works better than a patronus, and can be cast without a wand, because dark or not, that what he was doing" Ron's jaw had fell open, and with no small amount of satisfaction at the sight Ginny crossed her arms over her chest. "I think that'll keep you busy, right?" Sirius pat each of the twin's shoulders, "keep what ya know from the order members though, as a favor. You kids shouldn't be left in the dark, but not all of the members are ready to let you guys get involved," He smiled crookedly, "too late for that if you ask me, now c'mon," He led the way back into the dining room.
The red heads, lost in thought, followed with little hesitation. The old wooden table began to fill with hungry stomachs. Molly shot the group a suspicious look as they shuffled back in, but huffed when they were all somewhat mellow.
Soon, the table was being filled with pies and eggs and sausage.
"Help yourselves then, as long as you behave," The woman shot a look to her four youngest, and other than Ron's bowing head, she was unimpressed by the three puppy dog looks the other three shot her.
The door to the dining room creaked open again. The two who shuffled in were not redheads, thankfully. And Molly's wrath sizzled to an end at the sight. Instead, a pleased looking Hermione, and very unsure looking boy. Sirius was almost positive that he'd never seen the second's face before. Molly looked surprised as well.
"Oh!" The door snapped shut, the woman quickly bustling about to set a place for the newcomer, "Dumbledore mentioned a friend of Ginny's would be coming! Oh dear, how could I have forgotten?" Before the poor boy had even had a chance to sit down, a plate piled with her home cooked breakfast was handed to him, "What would you like to drink dear? Ginny didn't mention -oh, I haven't even introduced myself have I? I'm Ginny's mother, it's wonderful to see a new face around here-"
"Molly, dear," With another squeak, the door's hinges gave way, Arthur Weasley sliding his way into the room. The boy looked relieved that someone had paused the woman in her tirade of mother-ness, "I think you may be scaring the boy," He laughed.
The mother huffed, looking a bit ruffled, before shooting the startled boy a kind smile, "Sorry, dear. Here, why don't you take a seat, I'll go fetch some more cider,"
As she shuffled out, Tonks -one of the newer and brighter faces- filled the space. She must have come along with Arthur. The red haired man patted the boy's shoulder, "It's nice to have you, Neville right?"
"Y-yes sir," The boy nodded, being the last to take a seat. Ginny and Hermione were seated on either side of the boy. Neville was Alice and Frank's kid right? Sirius remembered them, and for some reason it didn't seem all that odd that Dumbledore had let the boy into the hide away. Not that he had been informed. At all. Something that did make his smile strain slightly. The table that once occupied only Sirius, now comfortably held ten though, so he wouldn't complain. Neville picked at his food, looking around at the unfamiliar faces, and eventually Sirius laughed. Something about that face reminded him so much of first year Remus. He always worried too much.
The door slid open for round three, and speak of the devil- Remus found his way into the dining room, sliding past the redheads. He paused for a moment, when his eyes caught Neville's. "Oh, Neville!" He smiled, thin but true, "It's good to see you, Neville," He pat the boy on the shoulder as he passed on his way to Sirius.
"It's good to have you then, Neville," The black haired man kicked back in his seat, clunking his feet onto the edge of the table. It was with many years of practice that he ignored Remus's scolding look.
The boy in question gave a shaky smile, and bit into breakfast. Sirius was secretly impressed that he didn't seem startled by a convicted criminal's presence. Ginny or Hermione must have filled him in on the actual story, but he was grateful that the kid seemed to take it in stride either way.
"A friend of Ginny's and Ron's is always welcome at the Weasley's, as well, Neville," Arthur acknowledged, and the pallid boy blushed slightly, nodding from the other side of a half full glass.
Sirius looked over at the red haired man, and then the smaller woman, spinning the cider in his cup with a finger, "You two aren't normally here this time of day…"
"Oh, yes," Arthur straightened in his seat. Tonks gulped down a piece of bacon, her shoulder drawn up like a deer in the headlights, "Of course, we're here on Dumbledore's request...as a follow up from...last night's conversation," The man withered under the look Molly shot him, and likewise, all of the children's heads shot up. He coughed into his hand, "Ah, Sirius, we were needing a name to look up…"
Sirius nodded slowly, "Naruto, the guy went by Naruto," Tonks was scribbling the name down on a napkin.
"Weird name, what about a last?"
"Uh, usumachi -or urubami -wait, that's it, Uzumaki. Yeah," Tonks added to the napkin, "Naruto Uzumaki," Sirius nodded, proud of remembering the weird ass name.
"Alright, thank you Sirius," Arthur smiled.
"Yup thanks dog-boy!" Tonk's cheeked, hair swishing to a teasing purple. Arthur kissed his wife on the way out. And Tonks knocked over an umbrella stand not a moment after the door swung closed, leaving a crotchety old portrait of Sirius's crotchety old mother to scream. In the commotion, Nobody really noticed the group of teens sneaking away and past a indignant Percy, on their way to one of their rooms.
Managing to leave right before the shouts could break their eardrums, Tonks smiled sheepishly over to Arthur.
"So now that we have the name, what do we do?" Tonks asked, waving the napkin in front of her face.
"Now we make a trip to the Ministry," Arthur pulled out his wand, "Dumbledore chose us for a reason-" Out slipped Remus, looking slightly ruffled from whatever shouting was going on inside. His shoulder's sagged as the shrieking voice ended with the closed door.
"Thank Merlin," He sighed, and looked to the two, "I'm going to accompany you...if that's alright,"
Tonks blinked, "What, why?"
"...Sirius and I have been friends for a long time" The man wrapped his coat tighter around his frame, and made his way own the stone steps, "sometimes he only sees people how he wants to. If the order is truly pursuing this Naruto person, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't get even one shot at Sirius," The wolf-man's eyes were fierce, and Arthur gulped down the breath he had forgotten to swallow, "Starting with getting as much information on him as I can from the Ministry's records," He smiled, though it didn't seem quite an genial as it had a few minutes prior.
Tonks breathed out slow, and picked up her shoulder's fast, "Well, if the man wants to come, the man wants to come!" She hooked arms with Remus, and the two were gone in a snap and flash of color, leaving Arthur in the street. The red haired man sighed, and wiped a hand down the side of his face, "Oh Molly...Dumbledore...what are we getting into?" Another flash and crack, and the man disappeared from the street as well.