STRESSFUL TOPICS

Revised: September 14th, 2013

Harry woke with a pang in his stomach he hadn't quiet felt before this summer on the morning of July thirteenth. He was in such a state of nerves he didn't even know why for a moment, but he took a glance at his calendar and saw a blurry scribble on the thirteenth of July and remembered he had written something there last night. The O.W.L. results were to arrive today. Harry gulped and tried to allow his breath to even out. When he was convinced somewhat he was calmer he placed his glasses on his nose and threw his covers off and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He looked back at his bed. Weinki had woken just now and stretched his long skinny body out and yawned. Harry smiled as the cat stretched out both back legs then shook his head causing his ears to twitch.

"Had a nice sleep I take it?" Harry asked him.

Weinki blinked at him then meowed. At that moment Sabrina had woken too and scampered over to Harry and rubbed her furry head on his knuckles.

"Right, breakfast time it is then. C'mon, don't wait up for me, you know I take forever to go up and down the stairs," he told the felines, indicating his crutches. He opened his door and they hurried out and into the kitchen. He wasn't surprised to see Remus with his back at the stove.

"Good morning cub," he greeted.

"Yeah right, I woke with such nerves it's mad," Harry growled.

Five minutes later Helena and Sirius came down as well. Before she sat down she opened two cans of wet cat food for the two cats and flicked her wand and the dishes were set down and Weinki and Sabrina hungrily began to eat. Breakfast arrived on the table a minute later. Helena noticed how Harry was picking at his eggs.

"Nervous about today dear?" she asked casually.

"What? What- I mean, why would you think that?" Harry struggled to say.

Helena smiled. "Remus told me last night your O.W.L. results would be arriving today."

"Oh, well, well er, yeah…" Harry said defeated.

"Do you feel you did well?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, I'm sure I did all I could but even when I do all I can in class I still tend to screw up."

"That's how your mother used to think my friend, after every exam Lily would go on and on about how she screwed up," Sirius said, waving a forkful of egg in Harry's direction.

"My- my mum used to think like that?" Harry asked, throat tight and determined to not get excited about Sirius' normal remark, even though it was always hard not to.

Sirius nodded. "We would tell her- Lily, you are as smart as ol' Moony here! There's no way you will fail! Didn't ever believe us…" Sirius shook his head and took a large bite from his toast.

"It's true," Remus said with a slight smile.

Harry smiled. "But I don't worry about my marks as much as say- Hermione does. But this is a huge thing; these are the marks that are going to determine if I'll be able to get into the Auror field."

Remus shrugged. "Well nothing to do but wait and hope it's what you want."

Harry sighed but began to eat, but not much. "Do- do you know when they're gonna come?" he asked throatily to Remus after finishing his juice.

"Anytime I believe," he answered.

Harry bit his lip. "Well- well I'll just be in my room until then."

Remus nodded and Harry retreated there. He didn't have to wait long. Harry was in his room and was looking out his window, mindlessly stroking Sabrina when he saw an owl flying in the far distance. He stiffened, watching the direction it was flying. It was flying towards the way to his house. Harry's breath hitched, his hand was frozen on Sabrina's back. She nudged his hand to tell him to stroke her more but he didn't pay attention. He saw the owl swoop down suddenly and he knew it was going to land by the window in the kitchen, or into the house if the window was open. Harry waited ten seconds or so and he heard Remus' voice from downstairs.

"HARRY! HARRY, COME DOWN HERE!"

"Oh god, this is it isn't it?" Harry breathed to his cat.

She looked at him, confused. Harry drew in a breath, grabbed his crutches and went downstairs. Remus was standing in the kitchen, holding a letter. A pretty barn owl was standing on the counter of the bar and was cleaning his feathers. Harry's arms shook as he propelled his body forward on his walking aids. He sat down at the breakfast table. Helena was sitting down there as well, Sirius was standing by Remus. Harry sort of wished they weren't all waiting around for him to find out how terrible he did in his exams. Remus wordlessly passed him the letter and Harry took it, his mouth feeling as though it was stuffed in cotton. Harry's fingers trembled as he tried to open the letter. At last he was able to open the parchment. He didn't even look at it but instead put it face forward to his chest, preparing himself to see nothing but D's or even T's. All was silent in the kitchen, even Sirius seemed to notice how important and stressful this was. Finally Harry willed himself to look down.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

PASS GRADES: OUTSTANDING (O)

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)

ACCEPTABLE (A)

FAIL GRADES:

POOR (P)

DREADFUL (D)

TROLL (T)

Harry James Potter has achieved:

Astronomy P

Care of Magical Creatures E

Charms A

Defense Against the Dark Arts O

Divination D

Herbology A

History of Magic D

Potions E

Transfiguration E

Harry licked his lips; he read the sheet a few more times over, seeing if he understood correctly. He didn't bother with another sheet of parchment that came with the letter in his hands now. Finally he slowly took his eyes off the paper. Remus' brows were raised.

"Well? What did you get?" he asked.

Harry handed the parchment over to him carefully, dreading what his uncle would say. Harry felt like he could've done better so he was waiting for the blow from the man. He could only remember too well how Vernon blew up at him the minimum times he got word of a bad mark from Harry in primary school or when he achieved a higher mark or comment from a teacher than Dudley. He could hear Vernon yelling his head off, shouting how he was a stupid boy who could do nothing right or was messing around with his precious son's mind, causing Dudley to fail. Harry got the shivers just then. To him it felt as if it was taking an hour for Remus to read the parchment over.

Finally Remus took his eyes off and looked at Harry. Harry was surprised he wasn't glaring at him or yelling. A small smile was on his face. "Congratulations cub!" he cried happily and hugged him. Harry was caught off-guard at the motion.

"I- er- what? What d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"You did very well," Remus smiled.

"No I didn't- I did horrible!" Harry pointed out.

"Let me see," Helena said, holding out an arm to the letter. Remus passed it to her. A few seconds later her face emerged from the letter too and she too was beaming. "Congratulations dear!" she kissed his cheek.

A second later Sirius was also smiling. "You did pretty well indeed kid!" he said, setting the letter back on the table.

"What is everyone so happy about? I did horrible, really horrible. I could've done so much better," Harry glowered.

"How could you say that Harry? You achieved six O.W.L.s, that's pretty good," Remus said.

"It isn't! I took nine classes and only passed six! I failed three!" Harry cried.

"Oh so what? The ones that are really useful are the ones you passed," Remus frowned.

"You've got to be kidding me. Every parent harps on a subject their kid has failed. Stop putting on a show."

"I'm not, I'm really proud at you cub, I really am," Remus said sincerely.

Harry looked highly skeptical still.

"Really Harry, I am highly proud of you and what you accomplished. I know how hard the O.W.L.s are, especially for you. You had a lot on your plate at that time remember? And the fact is you were able to pass six classes- one with an Outstanding is pretty terrific indeed," Remus said seriously, kneeling down and coming to Harry's height, hands on his knees.

Harry looked into the man's amber eyes and frowned. "You're- you're really proud for me?" he asked softly.

Remus nodded.

Harry couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. "Thanks."

Remus ruffled his hair and got to his feet again. "And I'm happy you received the best mark in my class," he winked.

Harry smiled wider. "Well it's the easiest and most interesting." His smile faded suddenly. "But I still know I could've done better. I had a lot on my mind during the exams, if I didn't I know I could've done better, especially in Charms."

"Flitwick might still accept you as a N.E.W.T. student Harry; I know in my day he accepted anyone who achieved a passing grade. An A is still passing so it only makes sense to take in a student who received that mark," Remus said candidly.

Harry still didn't look too pleased. "I just know I could've done better and now it's too late, these are the marks I have and will always have…"

"But they are still great marks," Helena tried to convince him.

"What really sucks about it is I can't be an Auror now," Harry went on.

"What do you mean?" Helena asked.

"Professor McGonagall told me at my career appointment that Snape refuses to take in students in his N.E.W.T. classes who don't achieve an O in the O.W.L.s."

Remus bit his lip. "Oh, oh right…"

There was an uncomfortable silence for a couple minutes. Finally Sirius was the one to break it. "Have you ever considered another career path besides an Auror Harry?"

Harry looked at him, then at his hands. "No, that's the only thing I could see myself doing."

"Well don't give up hope Harry, there are plenty of jobs out there that I know you'll be happy with," Remus said encouragingly, shaking his shoulders slightly. "You shouldn't focus your mind on just one job in case for whatever reason you're unable to do it. C'mon, what else is on your mind?"

Harry sighed. "Nothing Remus. I only wanted to be an Auror."

"Well how about a professor? A Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? That might be up your alley right?" Remus suggested.

"No, I don't fancy teaching. It's hard enough to control everyone during the D.A. meetings."

"Oh! I know- you could be a professional Quidditch player," Helena said happily.

Harry couldn't help but have a tiny grin form at the right side of his mouth. "I don't think I need the added fame. Plus, it's really great to do it at school but I know it would be ten times tougher to do it professionally, there would be so many things you can and can't do, you'd have to travel everywhere without content…it would lose its fun."

"I bet the Kestrels would love to have you on their team," Remus said.

"Pff, yeah right. Lynch is a terrific seeker; they won't be replacing him for years. Plus they're Irish, not English. I wouldn't want to leave London."

Just then the phone rang. Remus who was closet answered it. "Hello?" he smiled. "Should've known. Yes, just a sec…" he handed the phone to Harry. "Guess who."

Harry's eyes went wide. "She's calling me already? That must mean…"

"Slow are you? Go on," Remus said, nodding upstairs.

Harry took the phone and went upstairs. He came down a minute later. "Remus! Remus, I have a question," Harry said looking a little guilty.

"You want to come over?"

"Well, she told me she wanted to go in-depth with our marks and everything. She sounds a bit well, crazy right now so I reckon it's best."

Remus sighed. "How are you getting there?"

"Um, Hermione? How am I getting there?" he said into the phone. "Her dad will pick me up," he told his uncle.

Remus frowned. "Daniel probably doesn't want to pick you up and drop you off on his day off Harry," he said wearily.

"He doesn't mind, she told me."

"Oh fine, I suppose there's no reason for you to not go."

Harry smiled. "I can come over 'Mione! Yeah, okay, okay, right, see you then." He hung up.

Sirius frowned when he looked at the table Harry's O.W.L. results were on. "What's this?" he asked, holding out another letter.

Remus took it. "Oh, it just tells what marks Harry got in his practical and theory exams. The marks from both are weighed out to come up with the overall mark for each class. Do you want to see Harry?"

"I er- I guess so." He opened the letter.

Practical and theory final marks for Harry James Potter:

Astronomy: Practical- A Theory- A

Care of Magical Creatures: Practical- E

Charms: Practical- E Theory-A

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Practical- O Theory-O

Divination: Practical: D

Herbology: Practical- E Theory- A

History of Magic: Theory- D

Potions: Practical- E Theory- A

Transfiguration: Practical- E Theory- E

Harry didn't look too surprised. He sighed as he handed it back to Remus.

"C'mon Harry, you shouldn't beat yourself up about marks like this," Remus said looking a bit upset.

"I have so many A's though."

"It means 'Acceptable', it means you still passed," Remus said.

"But barely."

Remus shook his head. "Passing is still better than not at all. Now go on and get ready for Hermione."

Harry nodded and went to take a bath and get changed. Daniel came over an hour later to pick Harry up. Again Daniel couldn't help but notice how nervous Harry seemed to be. He didn't want to pry but he was afraid the talk they had last night didn't do the poor boy any good. He was just about to give up hope of Harry saying anything when he finally spoke up- ten minutes into the ride.

"I got my O.W.L. results today," Harry said ever-so-softly.

"You did?" Daniel said with a smile. "Are you happy with the marks?"

"Not really."

Daniel frowned. "You aren't? Surely your marks aren't that bad, you seem like a pretty bright kid to me."

Harry smiled. "Thanks but I really am not. I've always had troubles with exams. I'm more of a do-it-now kind of person. It's- it's a bit hard for me to do something where I'm supposed to sit and think for hours. I'm better at doing things under pressure."

"I would think doing a timed exam would qualify as 'under pressure'," Daniel stated.

Harry smirked. "Yeah well, not that kind of pressure. Like- hands on pressure. If I have to do something that's fight or flight than I'm able to think clearly. Do you get it?"

Daniel smiled. "I do."

"That's why I think my marks in the practical portion of my exams were better than those of the theory portions."

"I understand you completely Harry, I'm a bit like that too. I think you sort of have to be if you're going to be a dentist, you have to be able to work with your hands and be in the moment- ask questions later."

Harry smiled. "Wow, we really do have a lot in common huh?"

"You could say that. That's why you're going to work so well as my future son-in-law!" he joked and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Hey!" Harry cried and ducked. He smiled. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything, thank-you for talking to me."

"That talk we had last night…really opened my eyes a bit. It made me want to talk about my thoughts and stuff to others," Harry said shyly.

Daniel cast a side-ways grin. "Glad to help then lad."

When Harry walked into the door of the Granger household ten minutes later he was greeted by Emma. "Hello again dear, you've been over so many times already and I never seen you!" she cried and kissed his cheek causing Harry to turn a bit pink; he would never get over people fussing over him and missing him.

"Yeah, well I'm here now," Harry said.

Emma smiled. Hermione came forward a look of madness on her face. She did not smile at Harry but instead cried out, "Oh my goodness Harry! I did horribly!"

"Hermione, calm down, he just walked in," Daniel said sternly.

"But Dad"-

"No young lady, give him room to breathe before you shout at his face."

Hermione scowled. She then looked at Harry who had a look of discomfort, standing on his good leg. "Are you still in pain? I would've thought you're leg would be healing by now."

"It's not that, my arms hurt a tad bit."

"Why?"

"Oh, just the after effects of four failed attempts of drawing blood from them a couple days ago," he grunted.

"Oh, oh Harry I'm sorry, I forgot," Hermione said sadly.

"No, it's okay, I'll survive. So uh, guess you wanna go over our O.W.L. results huh?"

"Yes! Oh Harry I did horrible!" she wailed again.

"I'm the one who did horrible Hermione, you always beat me in every exam," Harry said wearily.

"No I don't! Just- oh Harry!" she forced him in a seat and showed him her results. Harry handed his over very carefully; afraid at how she would react when she saw his marks.

Harry looked down and smirked, he wasn't surprised to find ten O's and one E, which was in DADA. Again, it seemed to take a long while to get someone to look over his results. She looked up finally, looking a bit confused.

"Go on say it, I know you're dying to," Harry said tonelessly.

Hermione still looked puzzled. She opened her mouth, trying to find the words she wanted to say.

"I did horrible, say it," Harry urged her.

Finally- "No you didn't," she said.

"Oh please, I have six out of nine O.W.L.s and only one O."

"But- I mean- I know you did as well as you could."

Harry let out a dry laugh. "That's the best you got?"

"Oh Harry, what do you want me to say?" Hermione snapped.

"The truth."

"It is the truth."

"If you were really proud of me you'd of said it a long time ago."

Hermione sighed and sat down across from him. "Do you know why you received marks like this then?"

Harry shrugged. "I was really stressed out at that time. You know, Helena was missing, I was still angry with Sirius. I was having the dreams….I just had too much on my mind during the exams. I'm sure I could've done better if I didn't have so much to think about."

"Maybe, but there isn't anything you can do about it then. But you should still be happy, you did as well as you could and passed over half your classes. You brought the D you had in Potions up significantly!" she said with a smile.

"What's the point now that I can't get into N.E.W.T. potions to become an Auror?" Harry said tonelessly.

Hermione felt bad for him. She suddenly pulled at his arm. "C'mon, let's talk things over in my room."

Harry obliged and hobbled upstairs and into her bedroom. Hermione shut the door and sat down next to him on her bed. "So an Auror was the only thing you ever wanted to do then?" she asked, taking a hold of his heavily scarred right hand (due to Dolores Umbridge's detentions that left him with horrible scars after losing too much blood back in November).

Harry sighed. "Yeah, and McGonagall told me that Snape absolutely refuses to take in anyone who doesn't receive an O in his N.E.W.T. class."

"But maybe if Dumbledore"-

"Please, he has nothing to do with this. This is the mark I received and I can't do anything to change it. Now I have to think of another career path…"

"Surely you thought of something besides an Auror," Hermione said.

"That's the problem, I haven't. I guess I was a bit too focused on that path that I didn't stop to think of doing anything else."

"But there has to be something you know how to do besides DADA," Hermione said with a look of determination on her face.

"I'm not good at anything else."

Hermione thought. "Oh! You're a terrific flyer, you could play Quidditch professionally!"

"Remus already suggested that. I wouldn't want to; I know doing it professionally would take the fun out of it. You'd have to be everywhere at once, wake up at the crack of dawn to practice, so many people around the world would be counting on you, you'd have to be physically fitter than I am now, not to mention my face would be plastered everywhere ten times as it is now," Harry said sticking up his nose.

"You don't know that. Plus I know you can react well under pressure."

"Yeah but there shouldn't be so much pressure when it comes to Quidditch. I don't want to do it."

"Fine," Hermione huffed.

"Well what about you? Did you make a choice between a Healer or working in law?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, beaming. "I have! I thought of the perfect thing- I want to be the one who makes the final decision in legal matters for accidents. You know, settle on if one person purposely left that poison out for his brother to drink. If it was a justified murder. Things like that. I'm so excited to start training!"

"Yeah but in another two years," Harry added.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't rush things."

"Isn't it a bit funny that the one class you received the lowest mark in was the class I got the highest in?" Harry suddenly said, trying to smile.

"I know, how is that possible? I'm really disappointed in myself," Hermione said looking upset.

"But everything else was an O so you really shouldn't beat yourself over it so much."

"Oh that's what my dad keeps telling me! The fact is I was so close to having straight O's but I missed one! One class! And the one class that you received your only O in!" Hermione said hysterically.

"But you still have eleven O.W.L.s," Harry reminded her.

"Oh you don't understand…." Hermione shook her head, but paused it, her eyes wide. "Wait…you still want to help people don't you?"

"Yes…why?"

She didn't say anything but pulled out something off her desk and shoved it under his nose. Harry looked at it. It was a leaflet for St. Mungo's. "Er- Hermione? What are you doing? I can't become a Healer, I don't have enough O.W.L.s, plus I can't stand blood," Harry said in confusion.

"No, not that- turn to the third page!" she said impatiently.

Harry unfolded it and did as he was told, still bewildered. It was a small explanation of a basic nurse. Harry was really wondering what his girlfriend was getting at now. "Are you serious? I can't be a nurse, that's a woman's job."

Hermione raised a brow.

"You know what I mean- when was the last time you saw a man checking a patient over before a doctor walked in? I'm not going to do that."

"Oh fine but I was thinking you might want to because you're only checking people over and won't be working on them so you won't have to worry about blood, plus it doesn't call for as much as a Healer," she said crossly and ripped the leaflet out of his hands.

"Sorry but it just doesn't sound as interesting. I want a job that's exciting, unpredictable. That can change every day. To help others out in a wide arrange of problems."

"Oh! Look at this then"- she thrust another leaflet in his face. It was for Eyilee's Optometry.

"I don't fancy looking into people's eyes all day 'Mione, sorry," Harry said, handing it back to her.

"It's a way to help people though!"

"Yeah but healing in general doesn't seem like my kind of thing."

"Why not?" Hermione pressed on.

"Well, it'll be hard first off, plus I simply don't see myself doing it. Sure it's unpredictable but the medical field has never been a field I wanted to get into," Harry explained.

"What do you want? I'm ready to research anything," Hermione said clearly.

"I already told you- it has to be exciting and meaningful. Something where I help others. I could not have a desk or office job. I need to be on my feet and doing something."

A large smile crept on Hermione's face. "You got yourself a deal then Potter."

"All right then. What do I get if I win the bet?"

"Oh but you won't. I know there is something out there that falls under your requirements."

"If you're that sure…"

"Oh I am," Hermione said with a smile.

Harry stayed at the Granger's house for two hours before he had to return home. He was happy to learn from Remus that Poppy would be coming over to check him over tomorrow. With that info in his head and the hope that his leg would finally be able to have weight on it again, Harry fell into an easy sleep that night.

It was before lunch time that Poppy Pomfrey came over by Appariton the next day. At first she checked Sirius out, because it wouldn't take as long as Harry's exam. She was happy that he was getting his memory back but he was still irrational and had frequent nightmares and attacks on his brain and it would still take several months for him to become normal again, but he was now able to uphold conversations with little or no problem. No one was surprised at this but they were a bit upset- especially Harry.

"Right then Harry, into your room please," Poppy said briskly, after coming out of Sirius' room and finding him in the hall outside his door. Harry nodded and went inside.

Harry smiled when he sat on his bed and looked at the matron. He had missed her. He could tell she had missed him too for she was smiling as well. She set her medical bag on the edge of his bed and sat down on one of his chairs and faced him. "How have you been Harry dear?"

Harry shrugged. "Off and on."

"How is it living with Sirius?"

Harry sighed. "A bit difficult."

"Well I did warn you it would be something you'd have to get accustomed too," Poppy sighed.

"I know, it's just - a bit hard to- to accept it."

Poppy nodded. "How is your leg doing then? Have you been able to move it or put weight on it?"

Harry shook his head. "I didn't want to risk it. I might touch down on my toes once in a while but I never put weight on my foot at all."

Poppy nodded. "That's good to hear you are following my instructions for once." He gave her a glare. "Well then let's see how it is shall we?" she had Harry take off his trousers and socks and she took off the brace on his leg that stabilized it. She looked at his left leg then his right to compare.

Harry was looking at his legs too now and gasped. "Wow…"

Poppy smiled. "Yes, it's looks different doesn't it?"

Harry nodded mutely. "It's so much straighter…"

"It is. I knew you wanted it to reach such a state again too so wouldn't risk doing too much until I deemed you ready to. Congratulations Mr. Potter."

Harry didn't even hear her call him by his surname. "You- you think it's healed then?"

"Let me see…" she waved her wand over his leg a few times. She nodded. "It is around ninety percent healed Harry."

"Oh wow, that's great!"

"It is."

"So, so what will I do about it now? Since it's still not completely healed?" Harry asked.

"It will help to use the leg sparsely every so often. At night you will have to wear this"- she pulled out a small brown slip or cover of some sort from her bag. "It's a specially designed slip that goes over your ankle to help it rest and heal and not move as you sleep. It is the only part of the limb that is still healing. The rest of your leg is fairing very nicely. In the mean time you will have to use this to walk around"- she pulled out something else from her bag. It was the size of a normal writing pen but she taped it with her wand and it grew and became a handsome deep brown cane with a black handle. She handed it to him.

"I'll have to use a cane?" Harry asked, looking at the handsome piece of wood in his hands.

"You will."

Harry sighed. "Suppose it's loads better than crutches or a wheelchair. At least I can put weight on my right leg now."

She nodded. "I want you to do that right now."

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"I want you to try walking on your leg again with the cane. I want to see if you're able to do so yet," Poppy explained.

"Er- okay…" Harry swung his bare skinny legs over his bed and got to his left foot. He ever-so-cautiously touched his floor with his right toes- and the tips at that. With some encouragement he was able to put his toes on the floor all the way and gradually placed his whole foot down. He then proceeded to walk around on his right leg. It hurt too much to use the cane so he practiced with his crutches first before gradually starting on the cane. It took some getting used to again and it hurt him a bit but after almost an hour later he was able to use the cane with ease.

Poppy seemed to be proud of Harry's accomplishment as well and couldn't refrain from beaming when he walked around his room. She shook her head, determined to get her controlling manner back. "Well then Harry, I believe I've done all I needed to do," she said swiftly.

"You're leaving?" Harry asked.

She nodded.

"Oh, well, see you then. Thanks again for well, fixing me."

"It's my job, wouldn't dream of doing anything else. I will see you in September then."

"No- you're coming to my birthday aren't you?" Harry asked looking a tad hurt.

"Oh, well…."

"Please? You're a family friend, I want you to come."

"Oh well, I suppose so," Poppy said, cheeks turning pink.

"Thanks," Harry smiled. "I'll owl you with the info soon."

She smiled. "Well then I'll be waiting." She hugged him and he hugged her back. With a smile she walked out his room.

The next day turned out to be a very interesting one indeed. After breakfast Sirius chased Helena upstairs and into her room. When she turned around she gasped, seeing Sirius standing very close to her. "H- hi Sirius. What is it?"

"I was thinking about something…"

"Okay."

"You said a while ago that you still don't have a name for the baby didn't you?" Sirius asked frowning.

"Um- that's correct, yes."

"Well, if the kid's coming in early August and it's already mid-July, I reckon it's about time to think of one, don't you?"

"A name? For- for our child?"

"Yes, for our child."

Helena squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, I've been waiting for you to ask me about that forever!"

"Really?"

"Yes! I mean, with- with everything going on…sorry, it's just a bit overwhelming," she said waving her hand about.

"Well I would imagine so; this is what the kid is going to be called for the rest of his life so we have to make sure we come up with something nice."

Helena could cry, she could see a genuine happiness about Sirius' face she only saw months ago whenever they talked about the baby. This only proved to her that he was indeed getting steadily better. "This is going to take some careful planning you know."

"I know, so how do you want to go about it? First off- are you one hundred percent sure it's going to be a boy?"

Helena nodded. "Well- maybe ninety-nine percent, there's always a chance it could be wrong in the end but for now, it's a definite boy."

Sirius nodded. "Right, so how many names is he going to have? Just the usual first, middle, and last or three middle names or what? It's not uncommon for wizards to have more than three names."

"Well I was thinking- hmm, wait…" Helena frowned. "Well, there is something I was thinking of but I don't know what you would think about it."

"Well let's find out shall we?" he smiled.

"Well," Helena was twisting her hands together. "Well, I sort of wanted all of us to be a part of the baby; you, Remus, Harry, and myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, well I was thinking that we would give the baby a long name. It sort of adds character and makes him different from everyone else, don't you agree?"

"I do, that's what James was trying to convince with Lily when Harry was born. He wanted to put the name Edgar in his name somewhere but she flat-out disagreed."

Helena smiled. "So, do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"Of course."

"I want everyone in this house to come up with a name for the baby; he'll have a nice five-word long name."

"Wait, am I going to give him a name too or is the name I'm giving him just going to be Black? Because that's not entirely fair," Sirius said crossly.

"No, you'll give him two names then. Your surname and another," Helena smiled.

"Oh, that's nice then," Sirius said with a swift smile.

"I think we should tell Remus about it now, see what he wants to do."

"Ppfff, he better not want to give the kid the name Romulus," Sirius scoffed to himself as he followed his girlfriend to find the werewolf.

Remus was now in the kitchen, monitoring the dishes as they washed themselves, and was putting each clean one away where they belonged after they dried. He was a bit thrown off when he turned around and both Sirius and Helena were standing there, looking…normal, even excited a little.

"Yes?" Remus asked.

"Remus, we have a huge question to ask you," Helena said.

"What? The both of you?"

"Yes."

"Okay…"

Helena looked at Sirius nervously, then back at him. "Well, we were just wondering what we were going to do when it came time to naming the baby and we both agree that we want him to have a nice long name. With that said, we thought it would only be fitting if each member of the household came up with one…." She finished, very afraid of what he would say.

"You- you want me to- to come up with a name for your baby?" Remus said eyes as wide as galleons.

"Yes," Helena said, biting her lip.

"Oh no, no, no no, I couldn't do that. I don't want to do that," Remus said defiantly.

"But we were wondering"-

"No, no no, I'm not going to do it," Remus shook both his head and hand, firmer than before.

"C'mon- it'll be cool wouldn't it?" Sirius asked.

"No, I'm not going to. C'mon you two, it's your kid, not mine. You come up with his name, however long you want it to be."

"But we want everyone to think of a name for him," Helena said. "And if you don't then he's only going to have four names."

"No, it's inappropriate on my part, being an adult too. No, I don't want to."

"But you never know"-

"No 'Lena, I refuse to. There, that's my final statement."

Defeated, the couple retreated back upstairs, but not before Helena hung around to whisper to Remus, "I'm actually having a normal conversation with him! With him! Sirius!" she said excitedly.

Remus smiled and she hurried off as fast as she could. Sirius was now pacing the floor but after a couple minutes he stopped and faced Helena. "Helena, who's going to have the honor of giving the kid his first name?"

"Oh, oh that, I don't really know. I mean- if you want to…"

"No, he's yours too, you should think of it. C'mon, it makes perfect sense, you give him his first name, I give him his last."

Helena smiled. "But I still don't want to give him the name he's going to be called by everyone else."

"Then who is?"

After some arguing, Helena's eyes grew wide and she gave him a significant look. Sirius seemed to know what she was thinking and he smiled, nodding.

"Just think- it's the perfect choice. A great thing between the two for the rest of their lives. A bond they can't break."

Sirius nodded. A few moments later Harry heard knocking at his door. He went to open it and was shocked to find Helena and Sirius there looking, well, just as normal and excited as Remus found them not long ago.

"Wha-what is it?" Harry stammered.

"Oh, we were just thinking about what to call the baby," Helena said casually.

"We want him to have a long name see- and allow all of us to come up with one of the names, but Remus already refused to think of one," Sirius said looking a bit angry.

Harry's eyes were wide. "What- what do I have to do with it?"

"Well, we would like for you to come up with one of the names," Helena said carefully. His- first name to be exact."

"Oh no, no way in hell am I going to do that," Harry said.

"Why not?" Sirius couldn't help but snap.

"I have nothing to do with this baby. I might be okay with the idea now- and accepting it more than I was but this- this is really pushing it. I don't want to do it."

"Do you want to at least think on it for a while?" Helena suggested.

"No! My decision is clear! I can't do that; I don't want to do that. And his first name? Are you insane? That's your job!" Harry pointed at them.

"This will be a great thing for you to do boy!" Sirius suddenly shouted at Harry.

Harry backed away and hit the bench below his bed causing him to trip. "N-no, I w-won't do it."

Sirius was growing livid. Helena pushed him out the door. "I have it under control Sirius, really."

"Did you just hear him?!" the man said widely.

"Yes, yes, but please, let me talk to him okay? Please." He looked at her with crazed eyes but he turned around and marched off. Helena sighed- grateful at how easy it was to have him leave this time and she shut Harry's door behind her and looked at the teen.

Harry's eyes were wide. Helena stepped closely to him and sat next to him on his bench. She took his hand. "Why don't you want to think of a name for the baby Harry?"

"Because- it's very improper for me to do so- being the brother and everything. It's his first name, the name above all his others that people will know him by. I can't have such a burden placed onto my shoulders if- I mean, I just can't," Harry said looking somber.

"I was hoping you would think it would be a neat idea, a nice way to share a special bond between your younger brother that no one else has with their siblings. How many parents ask the older child in the house to think of a name for the new baby? Not many."

Harry shrugged. "It's still really big."

"Do you want to at least think about it?"

"I don't know Helena, like I said- it's your job. Why don't you want to think of his name? Aren't you afraid I'm going to think of something really, I dunno, wacky?"

Helena chuckled. "You aren't the 'wacky' type Harry, you aren't Tonks."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, I know."

"And if you do think of a name I don't like, I won't lie to you. I don't want to call my kid, let's say-Christopher for the rest of my life if I don't like the name Christopher. By the way, I really don't like the name Christopher," she whispered to him.

Harry laughed.

"You see, even if you get in fights with your brother you can always think back and know that you gave him his name, you marked him forever. You will always be remembered by that. You had a privilege no one else really gets. Plus, I believe it's a great way for you to feel involved with the baby. I know he's not your brother related by blood but he will in heart- plus you will both share the name Black. I know why you're so upset at times dear, I know this baby business is overwhelming and hard to accept but maybe- after this, it won't seem so bad. You might actually be happier when he's born," Helena explained, still gripping his hand softly.

Harry sighed and looked down. "Can- can I think about it at least? And tell you my decision tonight?"

Helena nodded. "Of course."

Harry smiled toothily at her back. "Thanks."

"No, thank-you. Well I better bathe- my back is killing me and we all know how soothing a bath can be," Helena grunted as she got to her feet.

It was 10:30 P.M. soon enough and as she had been the past couple of weeks, Helena was tucking Harry into bed. He had allowed her to do so because it was the motherly side of her that so badly wanted to surface.

"I really hope you don't mind me doing this every night Harry," Helena said looking a bit upset as she took off Harry's glasses and set them aside.

"Its fine, really," Harry assured her.

"Really? Because I know it seems as if I'm trying to take on the role as your mother but you don't need that. I keep telling my mother you don't need it."

"True. But everyone sort of needs a mother figure in their life don't they?"

"But I've been doing so much and you hardly know me," Helena pressed on.

Harry shrugged. "Not too much that it's suffocating. I mean, I love Mrs. Weasley, she's been great the past five years, but sometimes I can't escape the way she looks at me. Like I'm someone who does need saving and to feel sorry for."

Helena smiled warmly at him. "If I do something that makes you uncomfortable, tell me though. I want to treat you like you want to be treated."

"Trust me, you'll know if I don't like something."

Helena then frowned. "Oh, have you thought of… what we asked you about earlier…?"

Harry swallowed. "Um, yeah, I have."

She gave him a look that he took to mean continue talking.

"I- I'll do it, I'll think of your kid's first name."

Helena let out a cheerful sound and kissed his cheek. "Thank-you sweetie. I'm so happy, you'll be so happy too."

"I hope so," Harry said softly.

"Are you quite sure you thought this through?"

Harry nodded. "I sort of liked at the reasons you gave me, plus a few I gave myself," he said with a tiny grin.

"Oh, let me tell you- don't tell anyone the name okay? Keep it secret until he is born."

"What? Not even you?"

"Oh no."

"But don't you want to know the name I pick for your baby?"

"I do but not until he's born," Helena said clearly.

"Why? That's, well, a bit odd isn't it?"

Helena smiled. "Actually you might find it's a great idea when you start a family in the future. It's a good thing to not tell anyone- especially your parents what you want to call your baby because parents are usually very judgmental when it comes to babies. And if you know my mother like I do she will be highly judgmental on what the baby's name is going to be. They will say what they feel about the name if you tell it to them weeks or even days before the baby is born. They might get upset that you won't name him after someone or they might think the name is too weird. You understand don't you?" the woman explained.

"A bit. So by not telling them what the name is until the very last minute"-

"They won't want to say much on it because once the baby is born, they will fall in love with him so things like names aren't as big of an argument," Helena concluded.

"Hey, that is a smart idea," Harry noted.

She smiled. "So don't tell anyone until I ask you or the Healers ask you what the baby's name is going to be once he is born okay?"

Harry nodded. Helena was about to leave but stopped and turned to face him again. "Oh, just to give you a few tips- I don't want him to be called anything too old-fashioned like Mike or Tim and I don't want anything weird like Rain or Swallow or anything really wacky such as Jim-Bob-Kelvingstien or Heppatrius all right?" Helena said amusedly, thinking of names off the top of her head.

"All right," Harry smiled. "What do you want then?"

"Something normal but not too normal. Like- Brenden or Jaylen. It's not weird but it's not too common. Do you understand?"

Harry thought. "So something like Aflyn?"

"Well I don't know about that name…but along the lines of that, yes."

"I'll get right on it."

"Don't stress yourself too much; he's not due till August."

Harry nodded and turned to sleep on his right side, glad he could now do so without any pain in his leg.

Not a long chapter but a fun one nonetheless. I always laugh at the thought of Hermione stressing about her OWL marks, even from the book. What makes her think she did that terribly? Hope you understand the reasons behind the naming process for Sirius' soon-to-be-born child.

Magical love: Rose