In loving memory of Grandpa Ad, may you rest in peace after your long but inevitably lost battle. 09/20/1939 - 11/26/2015

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The distant sound of something metallic falling woke Harry and groggily he shifted into a sitting position, blindly reaching for his glasses and putting them on.

He glanced around a little confused, not entirely sure why he was in Sirius and Remus' bedroom as neither of the men were in there.

Glancing at the alarm clock he was surprised to learn it was close to noon already and he slipped out of bed to enter the bathroom.

It was as he was wiping off the remains of his toothpaste, that his eyes fell upon an empty potion bottle and suddenly he remembered what had happened the day before. Quickly finishing he padded out of the bathroom and towards the sounds in the small kitchen, pausing at the sight that greeted him.

"Hey."

His godfather was seated at the dining table; bend forward with his head resting on his crossed arms on the table while Remus was stirring in a pot on the small stove.

"Hey," Remus replied as Harry moved to the other side of the table, taking a seat across of Sirius, who turned his head a little so he could shoot him a small smile in greeting.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore and tired," Sirius' voice was a bit scratchy and he spoke even softer than usual, not that Harry was surprised by that as his godfather had screamed quite a lot the night before, so his throat must be sore. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"It's okay. I'm just glad to see you up," Harry smiled. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I was going to wake you once Rem was done. You looked so content asleep."

"What are you making?" Harry directed to Remus.

"Chicken soup. I was going to make pancakes, but his throat is too sore to comfortably eat those right now."

"I didn't know you knew how to make soup."

"I might not be a culinary miracle, but I do know how to cook," the man looked amused at Harry's resulting blush.

"Sorry, I should have realised, it is just that it is normally Sirius who cooks."

"I'm not up to much right now," Sirius sighed.

As he shifted slightly again Harry caught sight of his complexion, which was paler than usual and he was trembling a little.

"Are you sure you are all right?"

"Never said I was."

"But when I asked..." Harry began perplexed.

"You asked how I was feeling, not if I was all right," Sirius interrupted him teasingly before his expression settled into a soft smile. "I will be. I just need some time."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You could do one thing..."

"Anything," Harry didn't hesitate to say.

"You could stop being so far out of my reach and give me a hug."

Chuckling Harry moved to his godfather's side and wrapped his arms around him as Sirius slowly sat up, humming contently as he leaned into Harry's embrace, although he did not actually raise his own arms to return it.

"Does it hurt?" Harry eventually asked as he pulled back, seating himself beside Sirius and indicated to his bandaged wrist.

"Rem already reset the bone and healed the cuts. I'm just so incredibly sore and tired."

"Reset the bone? You didn't mention it was broken," Harry snapped his head up to see Remus staring at them with a guilty expression.

"I hadn't realised. I checked his ribs but I hadn't expected the wrist to actually be broken with how briefly she had a hold on it."

"What made you realise it was in fact broken?" Harry asked as he lifted his godfather's hand up a little by his fingertips, examining the bandaged limb.

"I couldn't hold my toothbrush," Sirius grudgingly admitted.

"I take it that there are some things you do with your dominant hand automatically despite being ambidextrous," Harry mused, curling his fingers around his godfather's.

Sirius only smiled, moving slightly back as Remus placed five plates on the table.

"Are you expecting someone?" Harry asked confused.

"As soon as they work up the nerve to stop lingering in the hallway."

"Fred and George?" It wasn't a question Harry was asking but Remus still gave a nod.

"Do you think they are angry with me?" Sirius sighed.

"Why would they be angry?"

"I did hurt and threaten their mother."

"You...oh for Merlin's sake, that's it," Remus growled as he strode to the front door and pulled it open, startling the two young men a little further down the hallway.

"He thinks the two of you are unwilling to actually knock because you are mad at him. Care to rectify that?"

"He...you're the last person we'd be mad at!" a red head appeared in the door opening and it took Harry a moment to recognise George from the dishevelled state he was in. The normally slightly more reserved of the two now burst into the room, a disbelieving and horrified expression on his face as he strode up to the table and looked at Sirius.

"Yeah, if anything we were afraid you would be unwilling to see us!" Fred added, quickly following his brother inside, his expression scandalised at the mere thought of them being angry with him.

"Why? I'm the one who attacked your mother...," Sirius looked confused.

"You didn't attack anyone. Our mother attacked you and you reacted in self-defence," George interrupted.

"I threatened to kill her."

"Not entirely unexpected after what she did," Fred shrugged.

"Not...Fred, I threatened to kill your mother only because she grabbed my hand," Sirius stared at him in disbelief, like he couldn't understand why they weren't mad at him.

"No, she grabbed your wrist despite having been warned not to. We've all been warned against doing so."

"She knew exactly what she was doing. She could have reached for your shoulder or your arm, but she specifically aimed for your wrist, knowing it would hurt you and knowing you might react badly to it," George added.

"What?"

"We...know about Azkaban," Fred admitted quietly.

"Yes, I know that. McGonagall told me she had unintentionally revealed that when telling the students about what happened at the trial. But your mother wasn't present then so how would she have known?"

"Moody chewed her out last summer for nagging at your inability to keep the newspaper still," Remus revealed. "Moody had seen the scars on your wrists and deduced how you had likely received them and why. He warned the other Order members to never touch your wrists if they didn't want to die a horrible and painful death."

"Meaning your reaction was anticipated. Maybe no one had expected you to lash out quite that strongly, but we all knew you weren't using magic because your control is rubbish due to the potions you are still using," Fred shrugged as he and George took a seat at the table.

"Did I hurt anyone else," Sirius asked quietly as Remus returned to the stove.

"Most have a few bruises from the original blast and Katie broke her leg but it was nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix in a second," George waved his concern away.

"I hurt the students."

"No one blames you. Well, outside Malfoy and his little cronies. Though he is mostly terrified, been given a sample of what you might look like when you're truly angry."

"Were the two of you hurt? Remus already assured me Harry was fine, you are unhurt, right?" Sirius worriedly looked at Harry who nodded with a smile, squeezing his godfather´s fingers.

"We're fine. We were more worried about you."

"Not about your mother?" Sirius asked surprised at the odd looks both gave him.

"You...don't you remember everything that happened?" George asked hesitantly.

"Ah...not much. I remember flashes here and there. I know Remus stopped me from truly harming her, but after that I have to admit it is all a bit vague."

"What do you remember?"

"The students gathering with their wands drawn and I know Peeves was there, trying to absorb my magic while I tried to regain control. And I know that Remus was anchoring me so I mostly focused on controlling my magic, letting him deal with everything else."

"Anchoring... that's why you never once released his hand. It was to tell him you were in control of the situation so he could focus on himself," George exclaimed in sudden understanding.

Remus gave a small smile as he poured soup into the plates. "Eat up; knowing you neither has eaten anything at all since it happened."

Fred shared an embarrassed glance with his brother; both looking surprised at the plates as they only now saw the table had been set for five instead of three.

"You were expecting us?" he asked as he picked up his spoon.

"Remus said you were standing outside," Sirius softly answered. "But he wouldn't let me go say sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," George was quick to brush Sirius' guilt away.

"What was I supposed to remember?" Sirius eventually asked after they had eaten in a comfortable silence for a while.

"That they threatened their mother, standing between her and you and declared you were more of a mother to them than she had ever been and that they would hurt her if she dared to harm you again," Harry summed up, biting his lip to keep from laughing at the embarrassed expressions of the twins.

"You..." Speechless Sirius stared at them as they both coloured a little at Harry's blunt words.

"Well...it is true, you have always been there for us," Fred cleared his throat.

"Took care of us and helped us with whatever problems we had."

"Believed in us and supported our dreams."

"Nursed our injuries and just spent time with us."

"Appreciated us and comforted us when we were sad."

Sirius stared at them as they took turns summing things up. Harry stifled a laugh at his expression, knowing he himself had been just as surprised and shocked when he had heard their speech.

"But...she's your mother," Sirius finally said lamely.

"No, she gave birth to us. She has never truly been a mother for us or cared for us for whom we were," Fred shook his head.

"You were right you know. Mum does see us as substitutes for her brothers, always has."

Sirius sighed, not trying to deny the words he himself had said.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We were actually quite used to only being yelled at. That's why we originally began to pull pranks, to try and get some attention," George admitted.

"Because any attention, good or bad is better than no attention at all," Sirius finished knowingly.

"Precisely."

"We've always had each other. But when we came to stay at your house things changed. Well, we were still mostly ignored or yelled at, but you were there."

"You sought us out, actually interested in our inventions and what they were for. You spent time with us and helped us out."

"You healed my hand when you noticed I had hurt it even when Mum was still yelling at us, never once asking if we were all right. She's always yelling at us for anything we do..., Fred trailed off, suddenly looking unsure of himself and picking at his sleeve, unable to look up at Sirius.

"But you thanked us. After we had been introduced and been send to unpack in our appointed rooms, you came to us and thanked us for having looked after Harry," George continued, his eyes shining.

"I was thankful, still am. Why wouldn't I have thanked you?" Sirius asked.

"Because no adult ever had before."

"Then they are idiots," Remus said.

"When you guys arrived at my house I was looking forward to meeting the boys who had done so much for my godson. And after actually meeting you I wanted to get to know you both. But not because you were pranksters," Sirius paused at their surprise and smiled.

"Harry had mentioned some of the things you'd done for him and I wanted to get to know the boys who had given him a taste of what a true family was like. And I was not disappointed when I got to know you. You are both kind-hearted and honest. You are good boys and I am happy to know you."

Fred and George both swallowed thickly at his warm words.

"You are not mad we kind of called you our mother in front of the entire school?" George asked.

"I would have been honoured to be your parent, and I'm kind of used to being called a mother hen by these two," Sirius chuckled before he turned more serious again.

"Why is it that you've always been looking out for him? Not that I'm not grateful, but you don't act that way towards Ron."

"Ron has always been a jerk most of the time. Always tattling on us and as bad as Percy is with his disregard of how good he has it."

"When we first met Harry and learned who he was we were surprised he was not at all like the image we had of the famed boy."

"So we wanted to get to know him as he was and were pleasantly surprised by how nice he was. He doesn't judge or yell at people unless they deserve it. We are proud to call him our little brother. Where we are mostly ashamed of Ron's behaviour," Fred finished.

"I wonder if he has always been like that?"Sirius asked

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I admit we met under unusual circumstances as I had just dragged him into the Shrieking Shack as Padfoot, broken his leg while doing so and he believed I was out to kill Harry. Do you know what he did?"

"Wet his pants?"

"Scream in fear?"

"He stood before him and told me that if I wanted to kill Harry, I would have to kill him, too."

He was quiet for a moment as they both looked at him in disbelieving shock.

"I suppose I am the last person who should wonder how someone can change so completely, but it always struck me as odd that he could be willing to die for his friend and not even half a year later drop that same friend so completely out of jealousy over nothing."

"It is odd," Fred admitted slowly, frowning. "Ron can be a good person, he just always lets his jealously guide him instead of common sense."

"He does," Harry agreed with a sigh as Remus frowned. "Say...what happened after we left?"

"Mum was arrested."

"Arrested?" Remus looked surprised.

"Yes. Originally we were just going to throw her off the grounds. But when you guys left she started insulting Sirius, which did not sit well with any of us."

"What did you do?"

"Luna was actually the one to take charge. I've never seen her mad before, but even we stepped aside when she brushed past us. Any bad word Mum said about you got her another powerful hex and yelled at until she eventually got the message to stay quiet. Especially when Peeves returned and viciously began to crackle energy around her, throw her into the air upside down and held her there until the Aurors came."

"And even then Madam Bones had to swear she'd pay for attacking Sirius before he let her down. Followed them all the way out of the castle, throwing things at Mum's back until they left the castle," George continued.

"And what happens now?" Harry asked, not feeling even remotely sorry for the woman as he glanced at his godfather's pale and shaky form.

"I don't know exactly, but McGonagall told the students that she will face charges for attacking the Lord of a Noble and Most Ancient House, attacking a teacher and entering Hogwarts without permission," Fred didn't seem to feel sorry for his mother, his expression grim.

"And if I don't press charges?" Sirius asked.

"If you don't then I will," Remus cut him off.

"Remus..."

"No Sirius. I meant what I said, she will pay for what she did."

"What about her other children? These two might believe she deserves it, but what about Ginny? Or Ron? Or even the older ones?"

"Ginny is on our side, she told us Mum had it coming to her with her behaviour. And I know Bill and Charlie will agree, too. They've seen her behaviour towards you, too, and have been saying that eventually she'd go too far and would have to deal with the consequences."

"We're not saying she should go to jail, but she should be punished," determined George looked at Sirius.

"What about demanding house arrest?" Harry asked.

"What?"

"That is what your grandfather did to Walburga Black, right?" Harry looked at Sirius but it was Remus who nodded in understanding.

"You could speak to Arthur and say that you won't press charges if he confines her to the house."

"It would work. In contrary to what Mum believes, Dad is actually the Head of House. He can bind her to the house, make her unable to leave the property. And she could be forced to pay a fine for the trouble she caused you," George nodded.

"I'm not going to ask your father to pay money," Sirius looked scandalised.

"Force her to make an Unbreakable Oath then that she has to leave those you consider family alone. No writing, no Howlers, not anything," Fred said.

"Madam Bones said she'd contact you after the weekend to discuss the event with you, so think about it," George pressed on.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah."

"Right," Remus rose and began to clear up the table.

"Do you want us to help with the dishes?" George immediately asked, rising to help him.

"No, thanks. I think it is time for him to get some more sleep," Remus smiled as Sirius tried to suppress a yawn and not the first one since the discussion had begun.

"That is our cue to leave then," Fred smiled, rising from his seat, too.

"You don't have to go just because I'm being kicked to bed," Sirius chuckled.

"No offence, but you kind of look like death warmed over and our presence would only keep them from fussing over you like they want to," George hesitated for a moment before bending forward to give Sirius a quick hug. "Get well soon."

Blinking surprised for a moment before smiling warmly Sirius nodded, allowing Fred to give him a quick hug, too.

"Thank you for the lunch, and we'll see you Monday for class... Mummy, Harry, Remus," he chuckled as Sirius stuck out his tongue and they quickly left with a wave.

"Why don't you go lie down on the couch for a while as I clean things up?"

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, Harry grabbing his arm to steady him as he rose from his chair.

"Sit."

"Woof," Sirius shot back teasingly, making Harry laugh as they moved to the couch.

"I'll grab a blanket, your skin is like ice," Harry commented, quickly retrieving a blanket and two pillows while Sirius sat down.

Sirius smiled, letting Harry fuss over him and push him down into a lying position, pushing a pillow under his head and covering him with the blanket as he curled up on the couch.

"Want me to read to you?" Caressing the fringe out of his godfather's eyes Harry smiled, knowing the man loved it when he read out loud.

"Sure, what are you reading right now?"

"The fairy tale book you gave me on our Hogsmeade visit," Harry had already retrieved the book and settled himself on the pillow he had placed on the ground next to the couch.

"Again?"

"I rather like it though they are very different from the Muggle fairy tales you've read to me."

"Which one are you reading now?"

"The Tale of The Three Brothers," Harry smiled.

"My favourite," Sirius returned the smile, shifting a little as Harry opened the book.

"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight¹," Harry kept his tone soft as he read the story and he smiled as it did not take long for his godfathers eyes to begin to close.

Finishing the story shortly after Remus sat down on the other couch he smiled as he closed the book.

"It never ceases to amaze me that he falls asleep so easily when I read to him," Harry smiled.

"You could be reading him a phone-book and he'd still like it because it's your voice speaking. You have a very pleasant reading voice that's very relaxing," Remus complimented, keeping his voice down, too.

"I'm glad. I do wonder about something though."

"Such as?"

"The story. Sirius told me it is about my ancestors and the items are called the Deathly Hallows that many people search for."

"The Peverell brother, yes. You are a direct descendant of the youngest brother, Ignotus. And the Cloak is the one of the story," Remus confirmed.

"I know, but the story says that Death couldn't see the youngest brother when he was underneath it, right? And we know no spell or curse works on it, protecting you against everything when underneath it."

"Yes, not even the Killing Curse could penetrate the Cloak, which saved Sirius and James' lives more than once. What are you getting at?" Remus asked curiously.

"If it can do all that and is more powerful than any spell or curse and it makes you completely invisible no matter what, then why are we still visible on the Marauder's Map when wearing it?"

"Because disguises don't work on the map."

"Those are normal spells, Polyjuice and the likes where more than one way of countering it is known. There is no spell that can break through the Cloak, so why can the map?"

Remus blinked surprised. "I...it shouldn't be able to."

"So, why can it?"

"I don't know. Sirius and James came up with most of the more advanced spells as we created it. Peter and I took care of the design and adding pieces while they added the charms and Sirius drew the actual map. You should ask Sirius, maybe he knows."

"When I asked about the Room of Requirement he said it was Unplottable so it couldn't be added. But it seems that does not apply to the Cloak then if we're still visible under it."

"I know the Cloak was rather unusual as it had been passed down from generation to generation without ever losing its power. But I simply assumed the Peverell brothers were extremely powerful," Remus admitted, taking a sip from his tea.

"If that is true then I guess the Marauders were even more powerful," Harry grinned.

"Two of them anyway," Remus smiled fondly towards Sirius.

"Don't count yourself out. You are more than capable, too."

"As are you. Are you getting nervous for the exams yet?" Remus suddenly asked, completely changing the subject.

Glancing down at the book in his hand Harry shook his head. "No, not at all really. And not just because it's still a while before it's time. You both prepared me well, so I am confident in what I've learned and I know I will do well. And Sirius already promised he'd test me on my theory at random times just in case. Has been doing so already actually."

"Yes, always did that for me, too. Absolutely refused to even touch a book when the exams were already ongoing but before he'd help out enormously. The spontaneous tests helped me a lot, though your dad was just plainly evil in his attempts to help."

"How so?"

"He'd jump on your bed in the middle of the night and ask questions while you were barely awake," Remus chuckled quietly at Harry's horrified look.

"Why wouldn't Sirius touch a book when the exams were on?"

"Thought I'd only make myself nervous by constantly reviewing between them. He let me read my text books in between but refused to test me, usually claiming he already knew it all but I knew the truth," he smiled fondly again.

"They were never once nervous for exams, were they?" Harry asked.

"No, for the same reason you aren't now. They knew they were well prepared."

"But you were nervous and I know you would have been well prepared, too," Harry objected.

"Only when I'd start to review in between the exams. If I didn't do that I wasn't nervous at all," Remus assured him. "Have you finished your homework?"

"Almost. I only need to finish my Transfiguration essay."

"Why don't you finish that and we'll do something fun after that?"

"Barricade? Sirius got his hands on the game last week and I think I got the hang of it now," Harry suggested excited.

"Sure, you have to refresh my memory though. I haven't played that game since I was a teenager," Remus chuckled.

"I'll finish my essay then, and if Sirius wakes up we can just start over."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Remus nodded and Harry quickly retrieved his school bag with his homework and settled back on his pillow, smiling at his godfather's relaxed sleeping form and tucking him in a bit more warmly before starting on his homework as Remus picked up some homework to mark.

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¹ original text from The Tales of Beedle the Bard, page 87 The Tale Of The Three Brothers.