So a very quick Author's Note. While I am married to this story, I have decided to take a mistress in the form of a Sherlock story. Don't blame me, blame Benedict Cumberbatch being just a lovely high-functioning sociopath. I have begun posting that here on . It is called "The Full House". Check it out if you are interested in Sherlock. Do not worry. Nothing shall happen to this story.

PART TWENTY-SIX
February 14, 1983, Woodsview, Oxfordshire, England

Remus and Sirius sat together in the bedroom that JJ and Harry shared. The boys were on the floor, very carefully drawing red and pink hearts onto a sheet of paper. Neither of them was terribly exact at it. In fact, JJ's looked more to be scribbles.

"So that's it?" Remus whispered quietly, so the boys wouldn't hear. He shook his head fractionally. "You did a spell with Dumbledore and now Harry can stay with us free and clear?"

"It was a bit more complicated than that," Sirius admitted. "It was a very complex ritual, but... Yeah. Harry can stay with us now. James recognized me as his brother, gave me his blood. That meant I could serve as the seal for the protection spell on Harry."

Remus smiled and breathed out a great sigh. "It's really all over then. We don't have to run anymore."

Sirius smiled back. "Yeah, we're all right. Still angry at Dumbledore for putting us on the run for so long, but we're going to be okay. We've got a home here, the boys seem to like it. Aside from some fines for my motorbike, we're in the clear. What about your transformations?"

Remus sighed once again. "Having the Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement backing me up helped me out a lot. Got a slap on the wrist, but I won't be going under Macnair's axe anytime soon. As long as I behave myself, we'll be okay."

Sirius cuffed Remus in the shoulder. "Everything's coming up Marauder, mate!"

Yuki entered the room, hand firmly pressed to her stomach. "How are my boys?" Her voice sounded slightly strained.

"Yuki! Yuki!" Harry jumped up, grabbing the paper he and JJ had been scribbling on. "Happy Valtine!"

Yuki accepted the paper from her adopted son. "Oh Harry, Jay... This is lovely." She winced. "Thank you so much!"

Remus caught the hitch in Yuki's voice. "Is everything okay, Yuki?"

She forced a smile through gritted teeth. "I believe I need to be taken to St Mungo's."

Sirius was on his feet in a matter of seconds. "St Mungo's? " His grey eyes widened and he placed a hand on Yuki's stomach. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, you prat," Yuki sighed. "Noriko's just ready to come out." She groaned. "Very very soon. Like right now. St Mungo's. Please."

Sirius let out a whoop and turned to the young boys, who looked very confused. "Come on, Harry! Jay! We've gotta go! Your little sister is coming!"

Remus beamed. "I'll get Yuki's things. You get her to the hospital."

Sirius gave Remus another punch in the shoulder. "Thanks, mate. I'll see you there!" Remus could only think of one other time Sirius had been this excited and that had been when Lily had gone into labour.

"Just take care of Yuki!" Remus laughed. "I'll be right behind you!"

Sirius was beaming like mad. "Come on Harry, Jay... We gotta take care of Mummy. Let's get going!"

Remus entered St. Mungo's Maternity Ward. Remus always found it humorous that this ward was lumped in with "Creature Induced Injuries". It had been added later than most of St Mungo's wards, due to Hospital Births only recently taken to fashion.

Andromeda was waiting for Remus when he came in. Ted and Nymphadora were sitting with Harry and JJ in the waiting area.

Andromeda waved to Remus. "Sirius told me to meet you."

Remus strode to Andromeda and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I didn't take that long collecting Yuki's things. How did you beat me here? Were you working? With... Nymphadora?"

"Not work," Andromeda laughed. "Nymphadora had a bit of an accident. Broke her arm, silly girl. She's all right now. We were just about to leave when Sirius and Yuki came in."

Remus shucked his travelling cloak. "How is it going?"

"It's over already." Andromeda laughed once again, shaking her head. "It seems Noriko is just as impatient as her father. Wasn't here five minutes before the Healer told her it was time to deliver."

Sirius stuck his head out the door of one of the rooms. He was positively beaming. "Moony! About time you got here! Get in here!"

Andromeda nodded to him. "I'll take the boys and Nymphadora up to the Tea Room until Yuki is ready for visitors. Now go be Godfather Extraordinaire."

Remus flushed slightly. "Don't think anyone will ever be able to beat Sirius on that front."

He followed Sirius's beckon into the room. Yuki was lying in bed, looking thoroughly exhausted. In her arms was a tiny, dark haired baby.

Sirius kept one of his hands close to his chest. With his other, he reached out and touched his daughter's head. "Moony, I want you to meet Noriko Lily Black. Nori, this is your Uncle Moony."

Remus smiled. "She's beautiful. Congratulations, you two." He looked to Sirius and frowed slightly, noticing how he kept his right hand against his chest. "Padfoot, are you all right?"

"Ah, it's nothing," Sirius waved it off with his other hand. "Told Yuki I'd hold her hand through the whole thing. Should've known she'd end up breaking it. Violent wench."

Remus laughed. "Well, get it taken care of, you prat! You're in a hospital!"

Sirius smiled and perched on the edge of Yuki's bed. "I can't leave my girls."

"And you can't properly hold your daughter until you get it taken care of," Remus pointed out.

A nurse bustled in and took Noriko from Yuki. "You rest, dear. You look positively knackered. I'll put the little one down for a kip as well."

"Why are you so exhausted, Maeda?" Sirius asked. "It only took half an hour!"

Yuki glowered at her boyfriend. "Do you want me to break your other hand, baka na inu? I just pushed a human being out of my body. Doesn't matter how long it took, it's exhausting! Now go take care of your hand!"

Rather than continuing their squabble, Sirius leaned in and pressed a kiss to Yuki's mouth. "You're beautiful, love. You know that?"

She laid back on bed and sighed. "Bet you say that to all the girls who give birth to your illegitimate children."

"You've done it twice, guess that makes you double beautiful." Sirius gave her one last kiss on the forehead. "Won't be long. When I get back, do you think you and Noriko will be up for visitors? Know the boys are aching to meet their little sister."

Yuki gave a half-hearted nod before closing her eyes. Sirius pulled himself back to full height and took a deep breath. "Right then. Come on, Moon."

Sirius stepped outside of the room and then pulled out his wand, tapping it to his hand. There was a soft glow and soon he was flexing his fingers freely.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that," Remus said softly.

"I was an Auror," Sirius pointed out. "We had to learn basic Healing Spells in case of injury during duty. Broken bones are nothing, aren't they?"

He leaned heavily against the wall and brushed his hand over his cheek. Remus realized belatedly he was wiping away tears.

"Shut it, Moony," Sirius muttered under his breath, furiously wiping his tears away.

"I didn't say anything," Remus insisted.

"I never wanted any of this," Sirius murmured, shaking his head. "Having kids. Being tied down." He looked back to the room where his girlfriend and daughter were sleeping. "I can't for the life of me remember why anymore."

"You were young. Just took you a while to get that place Prongs got to right out of school."

Sirius closed his eyes once again and let out a sigh. "I really miss him, Moon. Can you imagine what he'd be like today? After my daughter was born?"

Remus nodded and laughed softly, sadly. "He'd be crowing about it even more than you. He thought you'd make a great dad."

Sirius opened his eyes again. "I'm not doing too badly, am I, Moony?"

Remus smiled. "You're doing brilliant, Padfoot. JJ and Harry adore you. Noriko will too." He cuffed Sirius on the shoulder. "Don't worry so much. You're really not as stupid as you seem most of the time."

Later that evening, Sirius escorted the two young boys into Yuki's room. Yuki was still sleeping soundly, as was the small baby girl in the bassinet.

"Harry, JJ," Sirius said quietly, leading them to the bassinet. "This is Noriko Lily, your sister."

Harry peered into the bassinet. He sucked on his finger thoughtfully. "Not real." He wrinkled his nose. "Too little."

"You were this little when you were just born," Sirius said softly. Noriko had woken and was moving around. He picked her up carefully and held her close to his chest. He felt his heart skip a beat at the feel of the baby against him. "She'll get bigger really fast, just you watch."

JJ seemed a bit wary of the new addition. "Come on Jay," Sirius whispered. "Harry's been your big brother, now you get to be a big brother too. Nori's going to love you two so much."

Harry held up his arms. "I hold?"

Sirius seemed uncertain of this, looking down at Noriko. Finally, after a long moment, he nodded. "Go sit down in the chair." He gestured to the large squashy armchair in the corner.

Harry climbed onto the chair and waited patiently. Sirius very carefully arranged Harry's arms and legs and placed Noriko all bundled up in his arms. He didn't want to move too far away, wanting to help Harry support her.

"Good brovver," Harry said quietly to Sirius. He realized after a moment Harry was making a promise to him.

"Yeah, you are." Sirius leaned in and pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead, barely grazing against the lightning bolt shaped scar there.