Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK's characters, but I do claim my own original characters.

AN:Sorry about the extremely long hiatus. As of now my muse is back and I have been writing. Chapter 10 is actually written as well, but it needs to be typed. I hope you enjoy this new chapter in the story and I hope you all stick around to reach the end of the story. :)


Chapter 9 - Settling in and a New Arrangement

Severus and Sirius woke several hours' later, feeling slightly refreshed, although Severus was still a bit sore. The pair seemed not to notice they had fallen asleep on the loveseat together and ventured into the kitchen toward the smell of food, as both were very hungry. Harry stood at the stove making beef stew for the new family while Tonks had Artemis in arm feeding her and Sirius slept peacefully in his Moses basket on the table, while Lilianna played in a highchair. Severus quickly forgot about food and went to Tonks to retrieve his daughter, whom Tonks happily handed over to the new parent.

"Thanks, Tonks, Harry. That was quite the experience, exhausting, but rewarding", said Sirius as he looked from one twin to the other.

Harry and Tonks both shrugged, "No big deal", they stated together. Harry turned back to the stove and continued to stir the soup, figuring it would be done and few more minutes. Tonks excused herself saying she need to floo Remus saying she would be home soon.

A whimper sounded from the Moses basket on the table and Sirius immediately went over to make sure Little Siri was okay. He looked into the basket and gently picked his son up at seeing the little one face scrunched up and looking as though he would cry. Sirius cuddles little Siri close and patting his bottom to calm him. Harry walked over and handed Sirius the bottle he had waiting for Little Siri when he woke up.

"So how does it feel to be a dad, Padfoot," Harry asked Sirius as plotted down in the seat next to him. He was use to the fact that his godfather was back and had visited a few times over the month. He was happy to have Sirius back in his life.

Sirius started to feed his son and looked at Harry smiling. "It feels amazing, holding them and I just love them so much." He looked to Severus who was quietly feeding his daughter. He silently thanked the man again, "I am very glad for this chance. I never thought I get it."

Harry got up from his seat and squeezed Sirius shoulder reassuringly, then turned and headed back to the stove. "What about you Perks, how fatherhood?" Severus raised his head and looked at Harry; he had been so focused on Artemis that he'd missed the moment Sirius and Harry had. He yawned before he spoke, "Better than I could have imagined," he said to Harry before yawning again.

Sirius gave Severus a worried looked and a small whine, which Harry did not catch, but Tonks did as she walked back into the room from her fire call to Remus. She looked at the pair as Severus gave an annoyed growl back, causing Sirius to give a small whimper. She smirked as Sirius told Severus he needed to rest, which in turn made Severus tell him to mind his own. Sirius became irritated, but still whined that he needed as much rest as he could get before the twins became a little more awake. Tonks was very surprised when Severus gave in saying he would rest after he finished feeding Artemis and Sirius whispered a thank you out loud.

Harry turned and announced that the soup was ready and served some up to the hungry occupants of the table. As Tonks ate her soup she made sure to make a note tell Remus about the animagi bond forming between Sirius and Severus, and she silently hoped she would remember. Severus finished feeding Artemis and placed the now sleeping baby back in her Moses basket, before eating some soup. He did not finish the soup being as tired as he was, so he picked up Artemis and headed to the steps and up to his room for some much needed rest. Sirius also finished feeding little Siri and started on his soup. He was nearly done when Severus headed up and he decided to forgo the soup for some more rest.

He bid Tonks and Harry goodbye and gathered up Little Sirius, heading up the stairs after Severus and just barely noticing Harry and Tonks cleaning up and leaving, Tonks carrying a sleeping Lilianna with her. He walked into Severus room to see him sound asleep with Artemis on the bed beside him, a pillow on the other side of the baby, for safety reason. He kissed his daughter and covered her and Severus, before heading down the hall with his son to get some well-deserved rest.

For the next two weeks Sirius stayed with Severus, and the pair constantly had people dropping in on them and checking up on the twins. They were adjusting to there new roles as fathers and for the most part getting along okay. They had only argued twice in the past two weeks and it was when they were both very tired. Sirius for the most part was much quieter than his sister, he only really cried when he was hungry, wet, or wanted to be held, but Artemis cried a lot for everything. Needless to say the pair wasn't getting much sleep.

Severus walked into the living room, with two-week-old Sirius in his arms. He son was whining for a bottle and Severus settled down on the couch to feed him. He looked up when he heard the rather loud cries of his daughter from the kitchen. He knew Sirius would start feeding her before he even reached the living room, as the little girl was demanding. Sirius rounded the corner his daughter in his arms sucking nosily on her bottle. Sirius plopped down on the couch and feed his daughter, while Severus feed his son. Once the two were finished Severus placed them both in magical swings and returned to his place on the sofa.

Sirius turned to him. He had been avoiding the inevitable for the past couple days, but now he just wanted to know. "I know, um, eventually your going to want me to leave. Sirius turned to him. He had been avoiding the inevitable for the past couple days, but now he just wanted to know. "I know, um, eventually you're going to want me to leave. So no beating around the bush, how long are you going to continue to let me stay here?"

Severus had been avoiding this question too, he knew Sirius was the children's father, but he really wanted his privacy back. At the same time, Sirius help with midnight and three a.m. feedings was a blessing. Severus frowned before shaking his head. "In four weeks, give or take," he said, "I am grateful for the help you have provided me with over past two weeks. It's a blessing to have someone to help with those middle of the night and early morning feedings."

Severus went quiet again for a moment then looked to Sirius. "You are their other father, so you are welcome to see them whenever you like and maybe when they are older, you can have some overnights. But I do not think I want them away from me for too long while they are still so young."

Sirius nodded, inside he felt a little bad about not being able to always be with his twins, but he had not really been expecting it. He understood where Severus was coming from and although he was no longer a constant irritation to be around, they had been enemies for their entire lives and he was betting that eventually they would start to grate on each other nerves. The silence between them was becoming rather uncomfortable, so it was only a few minutes before Sirius broke it.

"Are you sure about that open welcome? I will be here as often as I can and for a while that may be every day. Do you really thing you can handle that?" Sirius asked the question, even thought he was not to certain he actually wanted to hear the answer.

Severus sighed, having Sirius around everyday would be a real pain, but for the twins he would handle anything. Severus nodded, "Honestly Black, it's not as if I will be doing much of anything. With you here every day at least I will be able to brew a few potions to sell to different potions shops while the twins are sleeping and not have to worry about ruining a potion or neglecting my children."

Sirius laughed, "You never could stay out of the lab too long." He smiled at the man beside him, "well then it settled. I will come as often as I can and just remember you agreed to this."

Severus sighed and shook his head then turned to look at Artemis and Sirius. They were fast asleep in their swings smiling. It warmed Severus' heart and he let one of those rare smiles reserved for the twin graced his lips. He wondered if maybe they were dreaming or if the smiles were due to the fact that they could hear their parents' voices.

Sirius, who had been looking at the twins as well, turned his gaze to Severus and could not help but to think that Severus should smile more often. However he quickly realized where his thoughts were headed and shook the thoughts from his head trying to focus his attention elsewhere. "Since the twins are sleeping. I think I am going to go make some breakfast and let them sleep. They seem peaceful, it would be a shame to disturb them", he said looking again to Severus.

Severus was brought out of his thoughts be Sirius' comment and nodded to him. "Yes, quite tragic," he said, "I will be in the lab tending to or rather starting the potion orders I have been neglecting for the past month." Severus rose gracefully from the couch and headed out of the living room with a curt nod to Sirius. He knew Sirius was let him know when the meal was ready.

Sirius got up and padded into the kitchen to get started on his and Severus' own breakfast. He knew Artemis and Sirius tended to sleep for at least an hour after their breakfast bottles, so he was in the particular rush.

Severus got to work in the lab setting up the three potions he really needed to work on, one of which was Remus' wolfebane potion. He had some brewed for the current month's moon, but he needed to start brewing for the next month's moon as the potion took two weeks to brew and one week to mature. Once he was finished setting up and preparing the ingredients, he began working on the potions, but he was having a hard time concentrating. His thoughts continued to return to what Sirius was cooking and whether the babies were okay. He knew he needed to concentrate on the task at hand, so he strengthened his occulumency shields a bit, but a thought that was become familiar came to the forefront of his thoughts. He could see the image of Sirius' black curls resting on his shoulder and then his hands as her prepared the ingredients for their meals. Lately he'd been thinking that Sirius could have done better in potions and even entertained the idea of teaching him. That, however, would mean he'd have to admit he enjoyed the man's company more that he thought he did and pretended he didn't.

Severus forced himself to concentrate on his work for the next twenty minutes, after shaking his head clear of his disturbing thought. He was turning down the heat under his cauldrons when he heard a knock at the door. 'Good timing', he thought as his stomach growled loudly. He cleaned up his extra ingredients and checked the timer for each potion before heading to the door of his and exiting. He made his way up the basement stairs, back up to the ground floor. As soon as he opened to door in the ground floor hallway he was hit by the delicious aroma of breakfast and quickly made his way into the kitchen.

Sirius was not in the room, but there were two places set with the nice fluffy omelets and sausage on the plate. Severus took his seat and Sirius re-entered the room and took his place. The two tucked into their meal and Sirius started up a conversation. "So what potions are you working on down there?"

Severus looked up and finished chewing his food before he answered, "Wolfesbane, blood replenishing potion and a calming draught, the latter two being for Saint Mungo's."

Sirius nodded and Severus gave his a quizzical look, "You know Black, and if you ever tell anyone I said this I will deny it, but you cook very well. It puzzles me as to why you were not better in potions at Hogwarts."

Sirius looked up and laughed. "I was good in potions, but I didn't let it show. Couldn't be too interested in anything you were interested in. We were being silly children, but I got an outstanding in potions on my O.W.L.s and an exceeds expectations on my N.E.W.T.s. Can't be an auror without potions right."

Severus' jaw dropped, he had not expected that at all. He quickly schooled is feature, not wanting to show his utter surprise at the statement. "So you were not so big an imbecile as you played. Are you any good at potions now?" Severus asked the question, but he doubted with his imprisonment and his supposed death, Sirius would be any good.

Sirius shook his head, "Probably not, but I could probably pick it back up easily if I tried. Transfiguration's may have been my favor subject, but potion was number 3, right behind defense against the dark arts."

Severus nodded, smirking on the inside, he had a crazy idea, but it was an idea none the less. Sirius was giving his an incredulous look and could not help but to ask, "Why?"

Severus was brought out of his thought and looked to Sirius unsure for a second of the question, but the calculation stare gave Sirius thoughts away. "Well since you will be here every day and I am so behind on my orders, I was thinking that you could help me."

Sirius gaped at Severus, thinking surely he was joking. "What's the catch", he asked.

"No catch," said Severus, "you would get some practice and receive the profit from the potions that you brew."

Sirius thought about it. He knew it would possibly mean spending even more time with Severus, be he would be occupied and he would not have to worry about a job for a while. Sirius nodded, "Sounds good to me."They were just cleaning up when the siren, that was their daughter sounded in the living room and was echoed in a moment by a small cry that was her brother. Both men headed into the living room, where their children sat crying in their swings. Severus picked up his daughter, cooing at her and trying to calm her as he headed up the stairs with her. Sirius followed with Little Siri who stopped crying nearly immediately after being picked up. Sirius walked robotically up toward the twins' room, his mind wandering. He'd be working with Snape, it would give him an ever greater excuse to near his children every day, aside for the fact that they were in fact his children, but could he really spend that much time with Snape. As he entered the room and headed over to the changing table to change his son, his thought jumped to what would happen when Snape was all caught. He did not really want to think about it. Luckily for him, he needed to focus on the task at hand otherwise he would be sprayed.

They stood side by side at the changing table, each changing a twin and each wondering about the coming weeks. Neither knew how well their new arrangement would go over and both were slightly worried.


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Next Chapter: A Change in You