A/N: As promised, this chapter has Remus/Tonks interaction. It's also longer than usual. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: The usual...
Chapter Fourteen:The Rescue
Sophie awoke early the next morning, an anxious feeling gnawing at her conscience. After the meeting with Dumbledore, her father and Sirius, she'd gone up to bed and spent an hour lying in the antique four-poster, trying in vain to get to sleep until, frustrated, she'd gotten up and made her way to Fred and George's room. She'd hardly spoken to them for days, too busy with Order business to spend any time with her friends (and truthfully, not in any mood to talk since her row with Belenus), and she longed to be in their company, if only to put a smile on her face. She'd knocked once then entered, finding the twins pretending to be fast asleep. They jumped out of bed, still fully clothed, when they realized she wasn't their mother doing her nightly bed check.
"Do what do we owe the pleasure?" George had asked, pulling her into the room and placing a charm on the door. Sophie figured that was how they'd known she was coming.
Fred pulled out a sack of sweets and offered her one. "Have you come for a taste of one of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes?"
"Or perhaps you're looking for a taste of something else?" George waggled his brows comically.
After assuring them, in no uncertain terms, she wasn't there for sweets or sex (the idea of both making her cringe), she settled down onto a chair and spent the next few hours catching up with her fellow Gryffindors. It had been so long since she'd actually spent any length of time with her old friends, she found she missed the twins' volleying banter. Sophie didn't even have to speak, just listen as they filled her in on all their recent breakthroughs and achievements in the world of gags and pranks. After almost getting caught by Molly (thanks to a particularly funny anecdote about how they'd accidentally charmed their bottoms blue in the name of research) Sophie had Apparated back to her room and was finally able to get some sleep. Unfortunately, a few hours later, the now familiar shrieks of Sirius' mother roused her from a heavy sleep and forced her out of bed.
She hadn't forgotten today was the day the Order would sweep in and extricate Harry from his current situation, but if she had she would have been reminded soon enough. She passed Molly on the way down to the kitchen, muttering to herself about, "so many things still to do," before Harry showed up, and Ron and Hermione whispered anxiously to one another as they waited in line for the safest bathroom in the house (Sophie was glad she was in one of the rooms with a private bath, even though it was dingy and small and she suspected a ghoul was living under the sink). By the time she reached the kitchen all she wanted to do was crawl back in bed and wait for evening, and Harry, to come. She trod wearily when she found herself alone with Sirius, who was steeping a cup of tea.
Sophie lingered by the table, waiting for Sirius to move away from the counter before she approached the high open shelves and pulled down a mug for herself. She mumbled a barely coherent, "morning," as she passed him, hoping it was just enough satisfy him and not so much it touched a nerve.
She could feel Sirius's eyes on her as she poured the boiling water into the cup over the store-bought bag. She wished her father hadn't had to leave so soon to get everything in order for the night's special task.
"Could I have a word with you?" she heard him ask from behind her. She turned and found him standing by the long, narrow island that separated the kitchen into two distinct spaces.
"Sure," she said lightly, trying to hide the apprehension she felt. She'd seen him blow up one too many times lately and didn't fancy seeing it again any time soon.
"I just wanted to apologize for last night," he began, looking slightly over her head, not meeting her eyes, "I didn't mean anything by it."
She feigned a smile and nodded. "It's fine," she lied.
He looked at her for a moment, his smoky eyes narrowing just a tad, then moved away. "Good," he said, sitting down at the table, "all settled then."
Sophie felt the hollowness of his actions and her own. It was an apology given out of obligation (as she was his oldest friend's daughter) and she'd spent too many hours lying awake the night before, his accusatory tone added to the torturous jumble of negative thoughts swimming through her head, to forgive so easily.
Sophie chose a seat close to his but not enough that either of them would feel the need to engage in the sort of polite conversation that bounced around the subterranean room every morning.
As he sat reading the Daily Prophet, his cup of tea forgotten beside him, she regarded him carefully. His face was unsmiling as he read, his eyes flicked over the pages quickly as if only scanning for words of interest, and his cool grey eyes were clear, the storm that had settled in them the last few days seeming to have passed. The tension that wound through her body slackened a little and the resentment slipped away. She was almost finished her cup when Molly ambled in looking frazzled, the usual loose bun in her hair set askew.
"Sophie," she said as she swept past her towards the fresh bread and carton of eggs, "I would love it if you could speak to those friends of yours about giving Harry his space when he gets here tonight. He doesn't need to be pounced on by two troublemakers." It was clear that she was referring to Fred and George and their joke shop paraphernalia.
"Oh, I don't know, Molly," Sirius answered for her, "I'm sure my godson could use a laugh when he arrives."
The smile he bestowed on the older woman from across the room gave a dark menacing quality to his gaunt face.
"Our thoughts exactly," came a chorus from the doorway as Fred and George Apparated into the kitchen with a loud, deafening pop. Sophie was sure her eardrums had been shattered but was thankful she'd been temporarily impaired when Molly began to holler at them.
"Don't you dare try and give Harry one of those nasty things you too have been cooking up in that room! I'll be checking it after breakfast and if I find anything suspicious in there, so help me Merlin, I'll blast it to pieces!"
Fred and George tried to keep their faces inscrutable as they assured their mother she had nothing to worry about and quickly took a seat at the table by Sophie, winking at a smirking Sirius when she turned back to her task.
"Won't find a thing," whispered Fred, grinning.
George matched it perfectly. "Thanks to Sirius and his excellent hiding spot," he added.
When the girls and Ron finally joined them, breakfast was being served and Molly scolded them for taking their time.
"Not our fault, mum," Ron whined, "Ginny took forever in the loo."
Ginny shot her brother a nasty look. "Some of us care what we look like Ron, we don't just roll out of bed and get on with our day."
Fred and George snickered at their little brother's expense.
"That's enough!" Molly hollered, quickly silencing the room. "I don't want to hear any bickering! All of you eat and get up to your rooms. You'll be cleaning them top to bottom today."
The Weasley siblings fidgeted a little and shot each other meaningful looks while Hermione stared hard at her breakfast, refusing to look up. Sophie glanced around the table, locking eyes with Sirius briefly before he looked away, back down at the newspaper.
"Where's Remus this morning?" Molly asked as she placed a final heaping plate of food in the middle of the table and sat down. Her voice was back to normal volume, though her face betrayed her dark mood.
"He's gone," Sirius answered curtly.
"So early?" Molly enquired further, earning her a steely glance. "The mission's not until later."
"Apparently." A hard line at Sirius' jaw appeared.
The tension in the room had suddenly doubled and Sophie sighed inwardly. It was going to be another one of those days.
She decided, as she sipped on her tea, that she would make herself scarce until the meeting later that night.
8888888
Remus walked past the shop windows along the slowly busying street. It was still early and the only people out were muggles on their way to work. Remus eyed them enviously, not only for their ignorance of the storm that had already begun but of the daily routine and regular paycheck they enjoyed. He missed both – had for a very long time, since the new laws went into place last summer, robbing him of any decent means of supporting himself and his daughter.
He peered into a shop window, a bright summer dress catching his eye. It was the kind of thing muggle women wore, the latest fashion, short but demure. He thought about the last time he'd been able to buy his daughter a new frock and realized with horror that he hadn't bought her anything – new or otherwise – in the past two years. He regarded his reflection in the spotless shop window, the threadbare clothes he wore making for a shabby reflection and his heart sank a little. It didn't bother him as much that he looked that shabby, but rather that his daughter might look the same.
"See anything you like?"
Remus whirled around to face a smiling Tonks. At least he thought it was Tonks. Her face was angular today, her hair a soft brown-black. She looked older, closer to his and Sirius' age, but the eyes were the same warm brown – her eyes. He was supposed to meet her in half an hour at the coffee shop across the road and was killing time, not having any money to spare on an overpriced cup of java.
"Just looking," he answered, reddening.
Her soft fawn eyes regarded him innocently. "For yourself?" she asked.
Cheeky, he thought, not surprised by her ribbing. She was Sirius' cousin, after all. "I thought Sophie might like that one," he informed her, pointing to the dress he'd been eyeing.
She peered into the window. "Nice taste," she said approvingly, "though I'm surprised you'd pick the shortest one. Fathers don't usually like the idea of their daughters showing any skin." She looked back at him and smiled. "'Course with those legs of hers, she could definitely pull it off." There was an unmistakable hint of envy in her voice.
He glanced at her, not knowing what to say. Tonks was rather petite, not quite reaching his shoulders, while Sophie, having grown a few more inches in the last two years, was almost at eye level with him.
His eyes fell on the dress again, its hem skimming the upper thigh on the mannequin, which was tall, pale and thin, just like Sophie. He decided the dress wasn't for her. He definitely didn't want her showing any skin and he doubted she would want to wear anything that threatened to expose her scars. It didn't matter anyway, he reminded himself – it's not like he could afford it.
"We could come back when it opens, if you want," she said, gesturing towards the sign in the door that displayed the hours of operation.
"That's alright," he said, "you're right, it's much too short."
Tonks chuckled heartily. "Now you sound just like my dad," she commented.
Probably look as old, too, he thought ruefully. "Well, we are all trained in the art of overprotection," he said, not voicing his self-deprecating thoughts.
They moved away from the shop window and walked across the street, settling at a table in the back of the room. They were supposed to meet Moody in a few hours at an abandoned building just north of London but worried about Sirius following him (as he was capable of being foolhardy enough to try and sneak along) Remus had opted to spend the day away from Headquarters. Tonks, whom he'd spoken to the night before, going over the last minute details, offered to meet him and "hang out," since she had taken an extended weekend from the Ministry and didn't have any other plans that day. Though he'd found it puzzling that Sirius' young cousin would want to "hang out" with him, he accepted, though now, as he sat sipping a cup of coffee he could not afford, he wondered why he'd agreed so easily.
"So, how's Sophie anyway?" Tonks asked after they'd exhausted the usual subjects of small talk.
"She's fine," he answered, realizing he really didn't know if that was true. They'd hardly had a chance to speak for over a week. "She's probably up to her elbows in doxy droppings as we speak," he guessed.
"Helping Molly today, is she?"
He nodded as he took a sip. "I would think so."
They sat in silence for a long, lingering minute until he realized Tonks was waiting for him to broach a subject. He scanned his mind for a safe topic.
"So, do you live close by?"
Tonks sat back and regarded him curiously. He realized it wasn't the thing to ask.
"I do, actually," she answered, smiling, "just up the road." She drained her cup and set it down, looking around the café, which was mostly empty save for the line of customers at the front. "Would you like to see it?" she asked casually.
Remus felt like a heel. She probably thought he'd asked just for that reason. 'No," he blurted quickly, then realized how rude he sounded, "I mean, that's not necessary, we can wait here."
"Well, it's still really early," she said, "we could kill some time at my place, instead of sitting here for the next – " she looked down at her watch, " – three and a quarter hours."
She looked at him earnestly with her big brown eyes and Remus found himself wondering if they really were her natural colour and shape.
"We're bound to have a long, tedious journey with Moody at the helm, anyway," she added, "might as well save our energy."
"If you think so," he answered, relenting. He mentally shook himself as he spoke.
"Great." Tonks stood up and beckoned him to follow her out the back door into the alley. "The quickest, safest route," she said, gesturing to the rubbish-strewn alleyway. She took his hand and tugged his arm gently. "We'll have to do it this way," she explained, "it's the charms."
Remus understood and let her entwine her arm with his. As an Auror, her home would be heavily fortified with spells and charms (hers as well as the Ministry's) to keep intruders out. He assumed the only way in for a dark creature was to be alongside her when they Apparated into the boundaries of the spells. As they Apparated to a back door of an old renovated walkup, Remus felt a strange prickling sensation from the heels of his feet, traveling up his body to the top of his head. He knew what that feeling was. He'd penetrated a powerful spell – an invisible barrier, most likely – and he'd felt the effect of breaking through.
When they entered, Tonks disengaged herself from his arm and he followed her up a flight of stairs. "Here we are," she said when they reached a door. She pulled something out of her pocket and stuck it in the doorknob. He found it rather curious that a witch would even think to use such a useless muggle contraption.
"A key?"
She pushed the door open and gestured for him to go inside. "It's a muggle building," she said, closing the door behind them and locking it, "I need to keep up appearances for the neighbours."
He smiled and nodded, looking around the tiny room. It was light and airy, with splashes of colour – a definite contrast to Black Manor.
"Nice place," he commented.
"Thanks," she said, clearing a mound of papers from off the cream-coloured sofa, "it's a shoebox, but I like it."
Remus took a seat in the living room, which consisted of the sofa, a bookcase, a television, a lamp and two end tables tucked into one corner of the room, the rest of the room taken up by a round dining table, adjacent to the small, open kitchen. It was fairly neat, though the thick layer of dust on the top shelves gave the place a neglected look. Tonks offered him tea, which he accepted just to be polite and they settled onto the sofa.
"So," Tonks began as she handed him a cup, which balanced precariously on a saucer, "how long have you and Sirius known each other?"
"Since first year at Hogwarts," he answered, quickly taking it from her hands (he'd witnessed enough of her clumsy actions to chance her spilling the tea all over his lap), "1971."
Tonks looked impressed. "Wow," she enthused, "that's before I was even born!"
Remus smiled and nodded, feeling older by the minute.
"Then you must have known my parents in school," she went on, taking a large gulp of hot tea.
He felt a little hurt. Andromeda and Ted were much older than him.
"Actually, I met them through Sirius. They were already out of Hogwarts when I got there."
"Uh, huh," she answered absently, dropping another two lumps of sugar into her cup and deftly licking the spoon, just like Sirius used to do. "So that's how you ended up at our Christmas party that time, eh?"
She looked up at him curiously, waiting for an answer.
"Yes," he said, returning his attention to his own cup and trying to stifle a smirk. "I was dragged by your cousin. He didn't want me to be alone that Christmas." He didn't know why he'd said it out loud, it wasn't the kind of thing he readily admitted.
"No family?"
"My parents died that year," he told her, feeling suddenly melancholy. He hated to think about how each of them died.
Tonks was suddenly quiet, and placed her cup and saucer on table beside her. "Sorry." She gave him a sympathetic look that turned quickly to confusion. "Wait, wasn't Sophie already born?"
"Yes, actually," he answered, internally groaning. She was about to go into territory he didn't feel terribly comfortable delving into let alone talking about it to a mere acquaintance.
Tonks continued to look at him, her face going from confusion to realization, then sadness and embarrassment. Remus looked away, finishing his tea and wondered how on earth someone who wore her emotions on her ever-changing face could have possibly been picked as an Auror.
"Sorry," she said again, "I didn't mean to pry. It's really none of my business."
Remus wondered what conclusions she'd come to. "No need to apologize," he answered politely, feeling like he should explain but finding a part of him unwilling.
They sat in uncomfortable silence until Tonks suggested they watch some television. Remus, eager for a distraction from the pink hippogriff in the roof, enthusiastically agreed, and she reached for the remote, turned on the telly and settled on a program quickly. They sat watching a documentary on the Royal Family that Remus could have gone his whole life without seeing for the rest of the hour, never speaking again until the program was over.
Around noon, Tonks offered him lunch, which consisted of turkey sandwiches, potato chips and butterbeer. The young woman apologized for the meager meal, sheepishly confessing that she didn't cook and rarely ate at home. Remus, who'd been spoiled lately with Molly's cooking, remembered the meals he'd been eating for a year prior, which consisted of moldy bread and little else at times, and assured her it was more than sufficient. They ate their lunch in silence.
"Do you know Harry Potter well?" she asked suddenly.
Remus was caught a little off guard. "Well," he began, trying to decide what to say, "yes and no." He thought about it before he spoke. "You see, I've known him since he was a newborn, but after James and Lily died," and he thought privately, maybe before that, "I lost contact. He went to live with his aunt and uncle – Lily's sister – and everyone thought it was best that he live as a muggle, away from the magical community until it was time for Hogwarts."
Tonks chewed thoughtfully. "That's so sad," she said, "but it was probably for the best – for him, I mean."
Remus agreed but wasn't sure what she meant and conveyed as much with a look over his sandwich.
"Can you imagine growing up being known as 'The Boy Who Lived'? That would screw anyone up."
He smiled. "Exactly."
Remus felt like Tonks understood much more about the situation than he gave her credit for and he answered her questions, telling her as much about Harry as he could without revealing anything told to him in confidence. Tonks, forgetting her meal, listened to every detail, as curious about the boy who defeated Voldemort as he figured much of the wizarding world would be. They finished their meal only after he had thoroughly exhausted the topic of The Boy Who Lived and Remus understood more clearly why Tonks had been the first to volunteer to bring Harry back to headquarters.
Afterwards, Tonks suggested they go for a walk, to which he readily agreed, feeling he'd imposed upon her hospitality long enough. She slipped into her bedroom and emerged looking like she had the first time he met her. She wore jeans, a Weird Sisters tee shirt and her face was back to its heart shape. The only difference was her hair, which she kept the soft brown-black, telling him it wouldn't be wise to attract any undue attention while they were out together and she looked more like her usual self. Remus agreed and followed back down to the garden, where, under the cover of a thick-branched tree, they Disapparated to an alley close to the Thames.
He found himself in a familiar spot, walking around with well-suited muggles on their lunch breaks and enjoying the sunshine. Tonks, who was always talkative, went into detail about how she became an Auror (a topic he readily encouraged, intent on keeping the focus off him) until it was time to meet Moody. Then they split up for safety and Disapparated to a prearranged spot where Moody was waiting, a bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye.
"'Bout time," he grumbled, even though they were five minutes early, "I hope you both remembered your training and didn't get followed," he added, referring to Remus' prior Order experience and Tonks' training as an Auror.
"Keep your knickers on, Mad Eye. We practiced 'constant vigilance', we promise," she teased the old wizard gently, which surprised Remus, as he'd never seen anyone approach Moody like that, much less a young witch.
He couldn't help but be impressed.
"Well, let's get a move on, then," Moody groused, ignoring her comments, "we haven't got all day."
Tonks gave him an exaggerated incredulous look. "What crawled up your trousers, Mad Eye? We've got loads of time."
Moody gave her a scathing look – a look he and his mates had received more than once when they were first in the Order, a look that would reduce the boldest of men to jelly but Tonks just stood there, gazing back at him innocently.
"We're meeting up with the rest of the team along the way," he said, one eye on her and the other on Remus, "then we'll fly to Little Whinging. Doesn't take a minute, you know."
Remus heard the dreaded word and his stomach dropped.
"Fly?" He knew there'd be some flying involved, but he didn't realize that was going to be their only mode of transportation.
Moody set both eyes on him and he felt Tonks doing the same.
"That was a large part of the plan, weren't you listening at the meeting, Lupin?"
Remus thought back to the Order meeting, where Mad Eye had gone into a long-winded speech. Sirius had taken to rolling his eyes and soon he was kicking him under the table every time Moody said a particular word (the word that night being 'boy'), which was a game Sirius invented when they were in school.
"You do fly, don't you?" Tonks asked.
Remus wished Sirius was there so he could ring his neck. "Um, yes, but – "
"But nothing, Lupin, you're getting on a broom and that's that."
Moody turned and pulled two brooms out of a small mokesking sack, while Tonks reached into her pocket, pulled out a tiny pouch and extracted her own. Moody propped one by his side and thrust one into Remus' unwilling hands.
"Let's go," he said gruffly, stepping over his and settling down comfortably.
Tonks did the same, and they both turned to watch Remus as he navigated his reluctant limbs over the long, thin handle.
Remus hated to fly and had since first year when he and his class of fellow Gryffindors were led out onto the quidditch pitch, handed a battered school broom and chaos ensued. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he'd fallen off and landed on his head, knocking himself out cold before he ever left the ground, but he didn't look back fondly on his first time on a broom. The humiliation that had followed him for seven years whenever he got near a broom wasn't taken lightly. He loathed the things and preferred risking a splinch rather than being at the mercy of a piece of wood and some twigs. He realized, as Moody stared at him obstinately and Tonks gave him an encouraging smile, he didn't have much choice.
I am going to kill Sirius for this, he thought as his broom zoomed into the air and he held on tight. I just hope I live through the night.
8888888
Sophie lay on her stomach upon the scratchy bedcovering on her four-poster, a book laid open before her. She'd been reading most of the afternoon, hidden away in her room while Molly supervised the others. Sophie had heard the angry, sharp tones, undeniably Molly, through the walls of her room, and she'd heard the groaning of Weasleys as they stomped about, forced to clean their rooms. Sophie listened intently, but heard nothing. Only ten minutes earlier, there had been a ruckus coming from the floor above. She guessed the twins had tried their hand at some magic they weren't familiar with (they were always doing that) but she wondered which of the girls had shrieked. It definitely hadn't been Molly.
Sophie was left to wonder for only a few minutes. There was a knock at the door and Hermione entered the room covered in a film of soot and dust from bushy head to foot. Sophie tried not to laugh at the sight of her, but the younger girl seemed to know she looked ridiculous.
"The twins tried a scourgification spell and it backfired," she explained as Sophie looked at her enquiringly. "Ginny's in the bathroom upstairs, and I was wondering if I could – "
"Sure," Sophie said, cutting her off. "Go ahead, I don't mind."
Hermione thanked her and entered the small bathroom, closing the door behind her. Sophie let out a barely audible snort of laughter, secretly glad she was an Order member and not a student anymore.
"Do you have any shampoo?" Hermione asked from the other side of the door, "I forgot mine."
"It's in the cabinet," Sophie yelled through the door.
"Thanks."
Sophie was about to sit and grab her book once more when it occurred to her that she hadn't specified which cabinet. Oh, shite, she thought. Just as she was about to warn Hermione not to open the cabinet under the sink but over it, Hermione let out a loud, high pitched shriek, then ran out from the bathroom clutching her towel and clean set of clothes to her chest.
"There's a ghoul!" she yelled hysterically.
"Calm down," she assured her, "I know, I was about to tell you…"
Hermione looked at her with incredulity and anger. "You knew?! How long has it been there?"
Sophie shrugged her shoulders and made a noncommittal noise as if to say, 'no idea' just as Molly burst in followed closely by Ron, the twins and a dripping Ginny, fresh out of the shower.
"What's wrong?! What happened?!" Molly exclaimed, panting like she'd just run a marathon.
"There's a ghoul!" Hermione was hysterical once more, "under the sink!"
Molly approached the bathroom cautiously, her wand held aloft, while the twins laughed and Ron commented, "that's all?" which earned him a scathing look from his friend.
Molly walked out of the bathroom just as Sirius poked his head into the room.
"Everything all right there, Molly?" he asked casually, looking around at the others.
"Apparently there was a ghoul in the bathroom," Molly answered civilly, "but it seems to be gone now."
"Gone?" Hermione looked positively petrified.
Sophie bit her lip, not trusting herself to burst into laughter.
"It'll turn up," Sirius told her reassuringly.
The look Hermione gave him told everyone in the room she was anything but reassured.
"They're harmless anyway," Ron added, "I've got one living in the attic over my room, remember?"
Hermione glowered at him.
"Doubt it'll go up there," Fred commented.
"Buckbeak would have it for lunch," George added.
Hermione continued to look frightened, while Ginny patted her back in comfort. Sophie noticed her biting her lip as well.
"So where will it go?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"Somewhere dark, like a cupboard," Sirius answered, stepping a little further into the room, "perhaps an empty room, or another bathroom."
Hermione looked aghast.
"Don't worry, dear," Molly assured her, reaching around her daughter and patting her on the shoulder, "we'll find it. It'll be fine."
She ushered her children out of the room, suggesting Hermione finish cleaning up, while Sirius lingered in the doorway.
"Would you like me to check again?" he asked Hermione when everyone left.
Hermione nodded her head vigourously, shaking dust bunnies the size of dragon eggs loose from her hair.
Sirius smiled and entered the bathroom, rooted around loudly and exited a few minutes later. "All clear," he said and stood aside as Hermione walked cautiously in and closed the door behind her. He then turned to Sophie.
"Did you know it was there?"
"Like Ron said, they're harmless."
He studied her for a few seconds before heading back out the door. "Just keep an eye out, you may think they're harmless but Hermione obviously doesn't feel the same."
He strolled back out of the room, and Sophie, not sure what to make of him, went over to the door and shut it firmly. Then she saw it. Laying on the floor behind the door to her room was the letter from Belenus, the same one she'd been convinced she'd left in her room back in Surrey when she'd searched her rucksack and all her things looking for it. Feeling at once angry and deceived, she picked it up and held it close to her nose. There was no scent, not even the lingering scent of the postman or Belenus – nothing. It was the telltale sign that someone had handled it and didn't want to be found out.
Sophie pulled out the letter and sighed as she reread it, realizing it could only be one person.
"Sirius."
So, what did you think? Let me know. Reviews are nice:)
Coming up, there will be a flashback of sorts in the next chapter (if everything works out), which I realize has been lacking in the last few chapters. There will also be Harry/Sirius and Harry/Sophie interaction...
Next chapter up soon...