Chapter 29:

No More Secrets

Anwen POV:

Dinner was a fun event, it turned into both a welcome home party for Sirius, and a congratulatory event for my promotion. I couldn't really tell anyone about my new work, since I wasn't sure how it was going to differ from what King and I had been doing for the last four years. Albus was there, and he had brought Minerva with him. I was thrilled to see her, but she was over the moon at seeing James, Lily and Harry. Over the years we had considered telling her, but we never seemed to find a good time or reason. Sirius coming home was the perfect prompting; and she was very excited to find out that two of her favorite pupils and their young son were indeed alive and well. We ate and drank and laughed well into the night. Once Harry was asleep I found myself at the dining table, talking with Albus, Minerva, Lily and James about what exactly a Ministry wedding would be. Sirius and Remus had headed back to the farm and the London house to check on the wards, and make sure that the press were nowhere to be found.

"Seriously, it's a three part wedding? It takes place over the course of a month?" I said incredulously. I wonder if it's too late to just elope?

"It's a beautiful ceremony. My sister was married in this way. It incorporates the best of all of our countries heritages, as well as the intertwining of the magic of the two that are married. There are few couples that ever have the chance to have a real, full ceremonial wedding, they are just so hard too organize and they can be expensive, but it would appear that most of that will be taken care of for you," Minerva beamed at me, I still wasn't sure.

"There are some Welsh customs that I would really like to use as well. I think that it's fun when the bride's family 'kidnaps her' and the grooms family has to 'rescue her'," I told them, and then something dawned on me. "Sirius doesn't have any family to speak of, at least not any that he would be willing to associate with. The rest are in prison," I sighed.

"What are Remus and I? Fire Crabs? There's his cousin Andi and her husband," James replied back.

"That does bring up an interesting problem. How are we going to get married when the people we want most to be standing up with us are supposed to be dead?" I asked, looking from him to Lily. She took my hand.

"We've been talking about that. Since most of the Death Eaters have been rounded up, we think that it may be safe for us to come out of hiding. Albus agrees, now that Peter is locked up, most of the danger has abated," Lily smiled at me.

"Really. That would be so wonderful. I can't imagine doing this without you," I leaned over and hugged her. "But, I thought that you would want to protect Harry from all the attention that he will receive? People are going to look at him as the child who got rid of Voldemort."

"We realize that, but we think that our family can continue to insulate him. We want him to go to Muggle primary school as well. There are things that he needs to learn before he goes to Hogwarts," James said calmly.

"Well, then I guess that I need to ask you if you would again, be willing to be my Matron of Honor?" I smiled at my best friend.

"Are you sure you want me? I thought that you might want Liddy, now that they don't have to be in hiding from Voldemort," she smiled at me with such deep understanding as she spoke.

"Minerva, correct me if I'm wrong, but the first and second parts are magical ceremonies, correct?" she nodded at me. "My sister would be unable to stand with me, since she is not magical?" Again, she nodded in assent. "Lil, she can be a bridesmaid for the final ceremony, but I need a magical matron, to do all the parts with me. In fact, my side of the family will be pretty small for those ceremonies. James and Remus will be with Sirius, along with his cousin, if he chooses, so that will leave me with just you, unless, the two of you would be willing to fill in as my magical family," I said, smiling at Minerva and Albus.

"Oh, Anwen, I would be thrilled. I am so honored that you would ask," Minerva smiled at me, tears coming to her eyes.

"Anwen, there would be nothing that would bring me more pleasure, thank you," Albus smiled at me.

"Okay, well, that's one thing down. Man, I hope that there is a book about this stuff somewhere, because it sounds like there is a lot that needs to be done," I was feeling overwhelmed by it all.

"Winnie, the Minister's office will help, and you've got me, we will be fine. Now, I want to hear about these Welsh traditions. Honestly, the bride's family kidnaps her on the wedding day? Really?" Lily asked me, very interested. I went on explain the tradition, that it was somehow to prove that the groom was worthy of his bride. If the family member who helped free her wasn't married, the tradition was that they would be the next one to be married, often within the year. While I was talking, Sirius and Remus returned. Sirius came and straddled the chair behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Remus pulled up a chair and sat at the far end of the table.

"I think it sounds fun, and honestly, if the infamous Marauder's are the ones trying to save me, I have no doubt that Sirius will be found worthy of my hand," I smiled back, I can only imagine what the three of them might pull, God help us all. "Oh, Remus, since you're the only one not married, if you save me, you'll be the next one married" I giggled at him. He looked mortified at the idea.

"Anwen, I think we can all safely say, that I am, and will always be, single. No one wants a husband with a 'furry little problem'." We all laughed at him, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. I knew that since Eva's disappearance over four years ago that he'd had no romantic life. It would be a unique and strongly-willed woman who'd ever get him to drop his guard again and let her in. I had faith that it would happen, though. One day, he will meet someone who sees him for the gentle man that he is, I just hope that he's smart enough to let her love him.

"There are some lovely Scottish traditions too, Anwen. The tartan ceremony is very touching. Are there any other Welsh ones?" Minerva asked me.

"There is one, but I doubt that Sirius would ever do it," I said, looking over my shoulder at him.

"I'll do anything, just tell me," he said, smiling at me.

"Well, it's tradition for a Welsh man to carve a wooden spoon, digging out parts of the wood, until it resembles a heart or a bell, or even with a small scene on it. It proves his dedication to taking care of all that his new bride will need. I always found it very romantic as a child. I know it would mean a lot to my Ma. Hers always hung in the kitchen. I salvaged it from their home after the explosion and took it back to them in Canada last time I was there," Sirius rested his chin on my shoulder.

"All that you heart desires shall be yours," he whispered at me as he kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly. He's saying all the right things, but will it last?

Sirius POV:

I was sitting on the bed in the guest room at the Potter's Cottage. Albus and Minerva, Anwen may be comfortable calling them by their first names, but honestly, it felt odd to me, had flooed back to the school and Remus had chosen to return to the farm to watch it. Lily wanted to talk with Anwen, so James and I had played some Wizard chess in his study, but he had finally needed to get some sleep, and had gone up to his room. Lily and Anwen were still in the lounge, talking by the fire. I had come up here to wait for her.

I can't believe that we have a wedding date. It was just yesterday that she was trying to end everything, and now, we have a firm date for our wedding, and she seems pleased with it. Some of these plans are a bit much, but if they make her happy, then I will agree. I wish I had someone to talk with about this spoon thing. Maybe there is someone that can teach me around here. I wonder if I walked into the village if I could find out how to do this. I'd also like to understand this kidnapping thing.

I closed my eyes and began to daydream about the wedding. I had been to a handfasting before. Both Bella and Cissy had handfasted with their husbands, but even they were not welcomed to have a full ceremonial wedding, due to the rather idiotic positions on blood status that their new husbands espoused. Pureblood mania was underground in the early seventies. There might be many people who agree with them, but, the Ministry couldn't publicly endorse outright bigotry. Of course, that changed as Voldemort gained more power and prestige. Since his demise, things have returned to normal, at least in the case of Muggleborns. If only that were true for others, like Remus.

I wish that I could see my cousins faces when they found out that I, and more importantly, my Muggle born fiancée would be welcomed to have the complete Ministry promoted treatment. I thought about what my beautiful Anwen would look like, and then thought about other things, including the wedding night. There are parts of me that ache for her. I heard the door open, and she walked in, looking dead tired.

"I thought you went back to London," she smiled at me, kicking her shoes off and climbing on the bed.

"Nope. There is no way that I was going to sleep alone, unless that is that you want me to leave. Then, I will," I said to her earnestly.

"Well, since your here..." she said, her voice thick with mock annoyance. "...I guess you can stay." Anwen laid herself down against my chest, her head resting in the crook of my arm and chest and I wrapped my arms around her.

"You're going to sleep in that dress?" I asked her, cocking my one eyebrow.

"No, just watch," she waved her hand over it, and it became a short, purple cotton nightgown. "Much better," she moved her hand over her mouth and gave me a big, toothy smile. "My teeth are clean as well now. You gonna sleep in your jeans?"

"No, but I have never been as good at Transfigurations as you have," I smiled back at her.

"Here, allow me" she waved her hand over me, and my jeans transformed into a pair of black cotton shorts. She ran her fingers over the skin on my lower thigh. "You really should wear these more often. Your legs are quite, um, wonderful," she said with a devilish grin. "Would you like me to brush your teeth as well?"

"No, I can handle that, thanks," I picked up my wand and cleansed my mouth. "Ready for bed?" she nodded at me, and I used my wand to extinguish the one remaining lamp in the room. We peeled back the blankets and climbed in. Anwen curled herself into me, and I wrapped my arms around her.

"It was a week ago that I was sobbing in this bed. I am so much happier to be here now. I love you Sirius, I really do," her fingers were tracing the planes of my chest over my shirt, and her touch was driving me wild.

"I love you Anwen. I am so sorry for what I put you through."

"I know you are. We're moving past it, and you seem very excited about the wedding. Are you?"

"I am. You know, it sounds like few couples get this chance, and I think that we should embrace it and enjoy it. Of course, I would marry you in a barn, as long as it meant that I could be with your forever," she turned her head to look at me, and it was there, that look of love and adoration that she had in the picture from our engagement. I pulled her to me, and kissed her with all the passion that I could muster. A few minutes later, just as it was getting really good, and I was moving my hand down to reach under her nightgown, she stopped me.

"Sirius, we need to slow down. I have a proposition for you," she said, pulling herself away from me slightly.

"Is it indecent?" She swatted me with her hand.

"No, it's very decent. What would you say to waiting for our wedding night, before we, um, were fully intimate? I'm not ready yet, and this way it really would be something special. Our wedding night would indeed be the beginning of our new life together. It's only four months," Four months, four bloody long months. Suck it up Sirius, it could be worse, she could have told you that she wasn't ever going to have sex with you again. I sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm not saying were not going to do anything, we both know there are a lot of things to do besides that. There are some that I rather enjoy a great deal. I just want to take it slow and it would make our wedding night special," I believed that she was blushing as she talked, but it was hard to tell in the dark.

"Is that thing with your tongue out of the question?" I could see that she rolled her eyes at me.

"No, I'll do that, sometime. But not yet."

"Then if it makes you happy, this is what we will do," I leaned down and kissed her rather chastely, and then I stopped.

"Hey, I said that we would take it slow, I didn't say that we'd be monks. Get back over here," and she again captured my lips with hers, and we kissed well into the wee hours of the morning.

A few hours later, I was awoken with Anwen tossing and turning in the bed next to me. Her breathing was erratic and she was covered in sweat. She kept moaning, but she wasn't making any sense. I reached over to touch her, but when I did she bolted upright, screaming. I sat up and grabbed her shoulders.

"Anwen. Anwen love, you need to wake up," she was shaking so hard it appeared that she was having a fit. She turned her head and looked at me, absolutely terrified.

"Sirius?" she screamed.

"Yes, love. I'm right here," before I could do anything else, she scrambled over and pulled herself into my lap. She was still shaking and breathing so hard that I was concerned that she would hyperventilate. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her quivering body to mine.

"Hold me, please don't leave me, please. Please. Please. Don't leave," she sounded so pitiful and frightened.

"Shh. I'm not going anywhere. I've got you. Come on, calm down," I rocked her gently, stroking her while still holding her to me. She continued to whimper and plead with me, but eventually she settled herself down. I wanted to ask her what had her so frightened, but I was afraid if I did so now, she would just start all over again. Eventually, she calmed down enough that we were able to lie back down. I curled her little frame against me and I held her tight, whispering to her until I was sure that she had fallen asleep again.

It was late morning when she finally roused herself. She rolled over and looked at me, her eyes filled with worry.

"I'm sorry about last night," she whispered at me.

"Anwen, it's okay, you had a nightmare. I just wanted to know what had you so frightened," I took my hand and stroked her head. She took a deep breath and looked down at the sheets, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world to her.

"Sirius, it hasn't been easy these last few years, rounding up the Death Eaters. Beyond being followers of Voldemort, most of them are sadistic and cruel all on their own," she said, speaking softly, looking away from me. I wrapped her up in my arms, so she was again laying against my chest, my free arm holding one of her hands, the other one stroking her back.

"There aren't many female Aurors anymore. They went after us during the war with a vengeance, or maybe for sport. It was like they got extra points for offing a woman in authority. In the end, I ended up having to carry a fair bit of the load; there are jobs that they save for us, and given my past, it was easy for others to open up to me," she paused again, taking a deep breath that raked through her lungs. "They send female Aurors out to talk with women and children; ones that survive the attacks," she paused again, and I just waited for her to continue, knowing if I asked questions, it would make this harder on her.

"Men like Rodolphus Lestrange or especially Lucius Malfoy are vicious. As their atrocities became known, someone had to go and interview their victims, and help prepare them for trial. I had to do more than my fair share of these, and I can't seem to get rid of the images. I had to watch their memories, and it was like reliving what happened to these poor women; not even getting into what they would do to children. Sirius, it's depraved," she had started to cry again, and I pulled her even tighter into my body.

"Their screams echo in my head and I see what's happening with their eyes. It reminds me of that day in Hogsmeade, and as badly as I want to forget, I can't seem to be able to. I don't understand how anyone could be so cavalier with another human being. I'm sorry I'm telling you, it just...I need to talk with someone."

"Hey, you can tell me anything, remember. I am so sorry that you have to deal with this," there wasn't anything else that I could say. I held her for a while, and when she started to calm down, I spoke again.

"Does your snake thing have to do with all of this too?" she nodded her head against me, and I heard her take a deep breath.

"Lucius would charm snakes to..." she shuttered and then calmed herself again "...to violate women and girls, and if they moved at all, or screamed, or tried to break free, he would make the snake bite them, wherever it was at the time. It's about the worst thing that I've seen, and believe me, I have seen some awful things. I can't stand snakes anymore. The sight of them makes my skin crawl," I continued to stroke her back and whisper at her, calming her down.

"How is he still free?" I questioned, knowing that it sounded as if there was enough to put him in Azkaban for many years.

"He's been able to intimidate or bribe or kill off enough witnesses to evade most of the trials. He has some very talented solicitors on his side as well. In addition, I'm convinced that his money has greased some of the wheels of justice in his favor. Now, the statute of limitations on most of his crimes has passed. He knows were watching him now, so he's either gone underground or curtailed his activity," she rolled over to look at me. "I hate him. I hate what he's done and I hate that I have to know that such things exist in the world," I had never seen her eyes so dark, it was almost frightening.

"Is there anything else?" I asked. She hid her face from me, burring it in my chest.

"No, that's about it. I mean, I am still afraid that you are going to leave me. Shit, I shouldn't have said that, it just sort of tumbled out. I'm sorry if I've upset you, I know I should have dealt with this better," she sounded so defeated and small. I lifted her head to look at her.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. That is too much for anyone to be carrying alone; and now, you don't need to do it alone anymore. You will never, ever be alone again, I promise," I leaned down and kissed her gently. She settled herself lightly on my chest when we were done.

"It should be better now, I doubt there will be much torture when dealing with financial records," she sighed. "That's part of the reason that I had put in to be moved to the diplomatic core. It would be something different, and away from everything that I'd seen and felt."

"Well, then the move is probably a good one, for many reasons," she nodded against me, and we settled into a comfortable silence. How did she do this by herself for all of these years? How did she keep this from me? "Anwen, when we were in Greece, I don't remember you having nightmares."

"They weren't so bad there. I still had them, but they were less frequent. I think it's because you were with me, and I knew that no one could get me there. Here, Lucius is still free, and if the Lestrange's were to ever get free...well I wouldn't survive if either of them ever got hold of me. Unfortunately, I can imagine what they would do to me. I wouldn't want you to find what was left," she sounded so resigned. There was a distance in her voice that I found disturbing. She had always been the innocent one, my little one. Now, there was a darkness to the world that I suspected existed; but I had never seen. She has lived it nearly first hand. My heart hurt for the loss of some of her sweet, wide eyed view of the world.

"Did you talk with Amelia or King or even Minerva about any of this?" she shook her head against me. "What about Remus or Lily and James? They would have listened, you're their family," I couldn't believe that she had held it in all this time.

"I couldn't burden anyone else with it, Sirius. I feel bad enough that I had to tell you. No one should know that these things exist. We promised that we would be honest, and that means that I can't keep these things secret anymore," her warm tears were soaking into my shirt and she was trembling against me again.

"Anwen, you can't be shoulder this alone. I'm glad that you told me. You have to promise me something. You have to take care of yourself. Now that I know, you have to promise me that you'll eat, at least once every day, and if you wake up at night, you'll wake me up too. Is there anything else that you're frightened by?"

"I'm not sure that I will ever feel safe again Sirius. I don't think there is anywhere in Britain that I would be safe," she whispered.

"There has to be somewhere love. I'll keep you safe, I will always keep you safe," I vowed to her.

"Thank you," the quiet settled on us again, and I began to ponder how exactly I would do that. I had an idea.

"Anwen, what do you have planned today?"

"Sleep. Figuring out which house we are going to live in. More sleep. Probably try to eat something, because I don't want Lily to force feed me again. Why?"

"Can I take you somewhere?"

"Like a third date? I don't know, you're coming on a little strong here?" The lightness of her voice let me know she was joking.

"No, I wouldn't call this a date. I want to show you something...something from my childhood." She lifted her body, tilting her head, staring at me.

"Really? I didn't think that there was anything that made you happy from your childhood?"

"I wouldn't say it makes me happy, but, I think that it could serve our needs well. What do you say?"

"All right, maybe after we have some brunch. I want to eat. Come on, we can go back to the farm, I'll cook you a full English and we can get changed and figure this stuff out. I guess we should talk about the wedding too" she smiled at me, pulling herself into a sitting position.

"That sounds lovely. Are you sure that you're better?" I asked her, cradling her face between my hands, stroking her cheeks. She smiled at me, but it seemed to have lost some of it's luster.

"Yeah. Thank you. It's better knowing you're here."

"Forever love," and I kissed her.

We got up and Anwen transfigured our clothes back. She quickly cleaned the sheets and made the bed. We headed downstairs and thanked James and Lily for their hospitality. Lily even smiled as she saw Anwen take my hand as we prepared to leave. We both said goodbye to Harry, promising that we'd back tomorrow to fly with him.

Anwen went directly to the farm and I went into London. We both showered and changed clothes, and by the time I had returned to the farmhouse, Anwen had a large brunch all ready. We ate, read the Prophet, in which there was a rather large article announcing our marriage, which said absolutely nothing of any substance, except that we would be having a full ceremonial and Ministry designed Wedding. There was also an article announcing the creation of the Financial Crimes Department, headed by Anwen and Kingsley, including an absolutely awful picture of the two of them, apparently taken after they had apprehended someone as they both looked disheveled and dirty.

"Great, that's a lovely picture of the two of us. I'm muddy and have a twig in my hair. Why can they never put a decent picture of me in this paper?" she said, rolling her eyes, "Do I really look that short standing next to King?"

"Anwen, he's taller than I am, there's like a foot and half difference in your height and he's got to out weigh you by one hundred fifty pounds. Yes, you look that short and tiny next to him," she swatted me with her hand.

"Thanks love, that was helpful," she mused back at me. "Do you think we could have a formal engagement picture taken, so at least for once, there would be a decent one of me in this rag?"

"I think that's a splendid idea. Make the appointment, and would you wear your purple dress?"

"Sure dear, but you have to get some dress robes, maybe in a dark gray. I love the way the color makes your eyes look," she smiled as she leaned over to kiss me. "So, where are you taking me?"

"London."

"Wow. How thrilling. It's not like we live there or anything," she said sarcastically.

"I don't want to give too much away. It's a surprise. Are you ready?"

"Yup, let me just get these dishes started and then we can be off. Am I dressed okay?" she said, clearing the table. She looked alluring in some cut off shorts and a tee shirt that bared just a hint of her midriff. I desperately wanted to kiss the soft flesh it exposed. She'd pulled her hair up in some sort of a headband, and it was gently curling around her face, and I wanted to tangle my fingers in it. Dear God, now that I can't have sex with her for a few months, all I'm going to want to do is have sex with her.

"You're fine," I nodded my head at her. Probably overdressed, given the condition of the house that we are going to, but I'm not going to tell you that now.

We cleared away the dishes, and she put a cleansing spell on them, and I scooped her into my arms and apparated us both to a small park in Muggle London. "Tada," I said, holding my arms wide.

"It's a park, lovely Sirius," she said, sounding throughly unimpressed. I took her hand and pulled her away from the park toward the row of houses.

"Notice anything?" I could tell she was looking at the houses, but she wasn't seeing it.

"They're typical houses?"

"Here read and memorize this," I handed her a slip of paper, she opened it and read: Sirius Black owns Number twelve Grimmauld Place. I knew when she had finished, because her eyes got wide as she watched the house pop out from between numbers eleven and thirteen.

"Sirius, what just happened?" she gasped. I took the slip back and incinerated it.

"Welcome to my childhood home. It's unplottable, charmed and protected with every known spell to Wizarding kind. Come on, I want to show you around. We might want to live here someday."

I took my wand out and taped on the serpent on the door, it lifted it's head and looked at me, and then the door released from it's latch and popped open a few inches. "Come on in," I told her, but Anwen was still looking at the snake on the front of the door. "It's a charmed door, you have to be let in by the secret keeper, which you now are, since it's me." She still wasn't moving. Crap, the snake thing. I turned her so that she was looking at me. "My family was all in Slytherin, all of them, for generations. I was the oddball, remember. There are snakes everywhere, but none of them are real. If it gets to be too much, let me know and we can leave. I'll hold onto you, I promise," I smiled down at her, wrapping my arm around her, and she returned a half hearted smile to me.

We walked into the entryway, and Anwen's eyes were as big as saucers. She was looking at the pictures of the family members hanging on the walls, as well as the portraits of the family patriarchs hanging there. Most of the frames were empty, their residents inhabiting another portrait, where I assumed, people were living. I pulled her down the hallway, and we stopped to look in the dining room. She marveled at the china cabinet, full of the family china with the Black Family Crest on it. I am somehow thinking that the 'Toujourus Pur' will make her laugh.

"Well, at least the crest doesn't have snakes on it. We would never use these if it did," she shuttered a little. "The forever pure, that's quite a laugh with me, isn't it. Sorry love, you're sullying the family tree. I love the table though," she beamed back at me, running her hand down the inlaid table top. I didn't want to tell her that I hated the constellation Orion that made up the inlay. I had no warm memories of my father.

"Not sullying it, strengthening it love. You will help me redeem my family name," I said, kissing her lightly. "Speaking of the family tree, I need to show you something." We went back into the hall and I pulled her toward the stairs at the end, but before we reached it, I heard familiar screaming emanating from the largest portrait in the hall.

"How dare you enter this house. You have no right to be here. You are no son of mine, and who is that? Is she that girl that your brother told me about? What is that filthy mudblood doing in my home?" The picture of my mother was screaming at me. I took out my wand and tried to silence her, but I had no luck. Anwen was just staring at her bright eyed.

"It's pleasant to see you again mother," my voice thick with sarcasm. "This is Anwen, my fiancée," I said, waiting for the screaming to start again. Anwen opened her mouth to speak.

"Mrs. Black it's a plea..." Anwen spoke politely.

"Do not speak to me, you little Muggle born piece of trash. Your brother told me all about her. I read about you in the papers as well, thought you had finally done something right. Joining the Dark Lord, knew it was too good to be true. You have no business in my home. Get out, get out of here both of you, and never come back," she screeched. Anwen had a look of utter horror on her face. I pulled Anwen aside.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't sure if she would be awake yet. Sometimes it takes portraits a few weeks to adjust to being animated, especially if they were painted a while ago, like this one was. Wouldn't you know she'd be awake nice and early? Ignore her, please." I tried to silence her, but I can't. You want to try?" She nodded at me halfheartedly, and lifted her hand and closed her eyes. Anwen exhaled, and a minute later, the incessant noise of my mother stopped. She was still moving her mouth, but nothing was coming out.

"What did you do?" I asked her with a smile creeping across my face.

"I put a wall around her and then wrapped her in a bubble. It's the same thing I do when I seal a room. I don't know if it will hold once I'm not here, but while I'm in the house, we can't hear her," I lifted her into my arms, pulling her tight, and kissed her deeply, right in front of my mother's portrait. When we broke away, my mother was sobbing greatly. I threw my head back and laughed. "Come on," I said, taking Anwen by the hand and then continuing our way to the staircases.

"The kitchen is down there, along with the pantry and some storage. You can get to the back yard through that door there," I said pointing toward a small door to the right of the downward stairs. "That door there," I said, pointing toward the one in the middle "is a small water closet and that last one, down there is a coat room," she nodded and smiled at me.

"The chandelier is beautiful, but the black and silver flocked wallpaper has to go. Did anyone ever think that it was fashionable?" she said rolling her eyes at me. We started up the stairs, but she stopped short when she looked up at the wall. "Sirius, what the hell are those? Did someone behead those house elves? They're ghastly."

"Um, yeah. Tradition started a long time ago. Kind of ..." I started

"...disgusting and cruel and disturbing beyond belief," she finished, as she gripped my hand tighter as we continued upstairs. "They'll go with the wallpaper, love. I will not live with that on my walls," she said, shaking her head for emphasis. She is really thinking about this. I'm surprised, but at the same time, sort of happy at the prospect.

We reached the landing and I took her around the banister. "Here is one bedroom, my grandmother stayed in this one until died. I think that it was originally to be a study, but she was old and couldn't get up and down too much, so she stayed on this floor," I opened the door and she peeked in and nodded. "Over there," I said, pointing on the other side of the stairs "is the bathroom for this floor. It has a lovely bathtub, large enough for two," I said, wagging my eyebrows at her. She smiled slyly at me. She enjoys water games as much as I do, what a woman. "Now, these are the rooms that I think you will like. This is the ballroom."

The room took up most of the whole side of the floor, and was directly above the dining room. It had floor to ceiling windows, on which hung heavy and somewhat decrepit gray drapes. A huge fireplace took up the end nearest to us, and there was a small stage at the far end for the orchestra. "Back in that corner there, there is a door to the bedroom," I said pointing at it, "and over there, that indentation in the wall, that's where the dumb waiter is. I used to get out of more hot water by riding it up from either the kitchen or the dining room. My father couldn't catch me then, and I was soon up in my room without him being able to get at me," I smiled at her, it was one of the few good memories I had of this house.

"I love it. I never thought I would have a house with a ballroom in it. It seems to big for the house," her eyes were dancing with delight. She pulled me into the room and made me hold her as if we were dancing. I began to spin her around the room, and she threw her head back.

"It's charmed. You can do anything with magic, love. Come on, one more room on this floor," we left the ballroom and I took her down the rest of the hall to the door of the Drawing Room. It had windows that overlooked the street and a fireplace between them. The rest of the wall housed glass-fronted curio cases. The room had a several sofas, chairs and a moth eaten chaise as well as my mother's desk. "This is the Drawing Room. I wasn't ever allowed in here as a child. Broke too many things before I was banished from the room. Come on, three more floors."

"Three? How tall is this house? It didn't seem that big from the street," she said with a horrified look on her face.

"Magic, Anwen, the house is magical," I smiled at her again. How does she keep forgetting these things?

"Speaking of magic, you do realized that this room is dripping in dark magic. It's seeping out the walls and cabinets and I can even hear things moaning in here."

"If we decide to live here, we'll get it all removed. Bring in curse breakers, and Magical cleaners and such. Don't worry, it would all be gone before we ever moved in," I told her and she smiled at me.

We went to the second floor, where there were two more guest rooms, as well as the library and the small office that my father used. Anwen was interested in some of the books, but there were others that she suggested either be taken to the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry, or just destroyed. I nodded at her, that would be a good job for the Auror in the family to take care of. There was another full bathroom on this level as well.

The third floor had the master suite taking up the entire front of the house. Beside the bedroom, in contained the en-suite loo and a sitting room. A cleaning closet, linen closet and small guest room were the only other rooms on this floor. As we walked through the master bedroom, I couldn't help but look at Anwen's face.

"Sirius, that has to be the biggest bed that I have ever seen. It's makes ours look tiny. Was it built in here?" she said, looking at the oversized bed in the center of the room. I hopped up on it, but Anwen was too short, and had to resort to the small set of stairs next to it, for just such use.

"It probably was. Here, lay down for a minute, you have to see the canopy," I laid down on my back, with my hands behind my bed and Anwen laid down next to me. When she looked up, I heard her gasp.

"Sirius, I've never seen anything like it," she said breathlessly.

"I'm sure you haven't. It was created by my great, great, grandfather back like two hundred years ago. It shows an accurate night sky, I used to love to sneak in here in the winter, when Sirius was in the sky, and look at it floating over me. It was hard to see the real stars outside, so this would have to do," we laid there, watching the stars float overhead. A shooting star flew across the canopy, and Anwen let out an excited sigh.

"Did you make a wish?" she asked me. "If you wish on a shooting star, your wish will come true. At least that's what Muggles say," she had turned her head toward me. I rolled my body over onto my side so that I could look at her.

"I have nothing left to wish for, everything I could ever dream of is right here," her breath caught, and I could see her eyes getting wet.

"You say the most beautiful things sometimes," I leaned down and kissed her. I caressed her lips and I felt her tongue dart out of her mouth to return the favor. I laid myself down on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around mine, creating delicious friction between us. I pushed against her and she moaned from the contact, and in that moment I debated pushing her waiting rule; but decided against it. I ended the kiss and pulled her off the bed. "Come on, there are only a few more rooms," I took her hand and we walked up the final flight of stairs.

"This used to be one large room, the nursery, when we were young. Our nurses bed was up here with us. Reg and I drove so many away, that Mum finally had to enslave a Squib to take care of us. One of the finer moments in my family history," I said full of mock pride. When we got of a certain age, Dad split it into two rooms. This one belonged to Regulus," I opened the room, and Anwen looked in briefly. The room was in the household colors of black, green and silver.

"Can we just throw everything in there out?"

"Yes, well, can we keep the bed frame? It's very beautiful?" The mahogany canopy bed was impressive in it's size and design. I could see our daughter sleeping in it, drowning in pink and white linens.

"I guess, but anything that was his, I want no part of," she said with a coldness in her voice that surprised me.

"Okay," I said as we stepped back into the small hall. "That's the loo for this floor. No tub in there," she grinned at me. "This, was my room," I said opening the door, walking in to the room that was strikingly different than the rest of the hosue.

"This looks like the common room in Gryffindor tower, love. I fully expect to see my favorite chair in here somewhere," she beamed at me, walking over and bouncing down on my childhood bed. "I like it. The red and gold make it very, homey. Not so crazy about those posters though," she said, pointing over at the Muggle posters of girls in bikini's. "I can't even transfigure myself to look like that," she shook her head at them. "Oh, look at the pictures. Is that you and James?"

"Yeah, we were like eight. We were friends when we were kids, and always liked each other," she slid off the bed and was studying the picture.

"Did you always worry about your hair so?" she giggled at me.

"Now, now; be fair," I came over and wrapped my arms around her waist and put my chin on her shoulder. There were other pictures there as well. One of the Marauder's, although I think we both glared the sight of Peter, and one of the Quidditch team, her second year. She was waving back at us rather animatedly. "Come here, I want to show you a secret," I pulled her over to where the one small window was on the far side of the room. "Put your hand here," I said, pointing to a spot on the wall. Anwen reached for it, and was surprised when her hand went through the wall.

"What was that?"

"Follow me," I said, as I crouched down, lit my wand, and crawled through the wall. A moment later, Anwen joined me in the little hiding space that I had made for myself.

"Where are we?" she said, her eyes wide again. We were sitting on the floor, and my head was touching the top of the space. Anwen was sitting between my legs, my knees bent up fully. She leaned back into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. My wand was tucked in between her knees.

"This was my secret place, no one else in the family knew that it existed. I made it my first summer back from Hogwarts. Used some of my Dad's books to create it. When I had enough, or when my father was on one of his drunken rampages, I could stay here, safely away from everyone. I could use the dumbwaiter to get far enough away from him, and then I would race up here. He would tear through the house looking for me, I could hear him, but as long as I was in here, I was safe," I told her quietly. I hadn't even told James about this place, in fact, I hadn't told him about what a terror my father really was. Only Anwen knew that secret.

Anwen said nothing, she just snuggled herself into me, her soft hands stroking mine.

"Come on, lets get out of here. I'm too tall for this now," she crawled out, holding my wand, and I followed. We stood up and went over onto my bed and sat back down. "So, what do you think?"

"Sirius, the house is amazing, but it needs some work. It's rather depressing, and all the snakes need to go. Not to mention, I'm not crazy about the color scheme and it definitely needs to have the dark magic removed from it. But...I like it. In fact, I really like it. It's grander than any house I would have ever dreamed of owning."

"Well then, that settles it, we are going to fix it up, and we are going to live here. The little house in London has been fine, but it isn't big enough to raise a family in," she beamed at me as I said this.

"Family? We're not even married yet."

"Thinking ahead my love. I think room can stay how it it, minus the posters, for our son. Reg's old room can be redone for our daughter."

"You're incorrigible."

"What about the farm?" her face falling as she asked.

"We'll keep it. You love it, and we can get away from the city that way. It's not uncommon for wealthy families to have a summer home outside of the city. I really think that Moony likes his apartment and lab there too." She nodded at me. "Now, if you will indulge me, there is something that I fantasied about doing in this bed, since I was a very young boy." I picked her up and tossed her onto the bed, pouncing on after her.

"Sirius, I told you I wanted to wait."

"I know, but when I had this fantasy, all I wanted to do was snog a girl here. Do you think that you could indulge me, please?" I asked, pulling her toward me.

"I suppose I could be persuaded," she said with a raise of her eyebrows. We laid there kissing deeply for a while, my hands slipping under her tee shirt, hers stroking my chest over my shirt. I went to unclasp her bra, and she stopped me. "I think that's enough for now. We are on only our third date, remember," we sat up, and I kissed the small of her back before sliding off the bed and giving her my hand. She shivered at the contact when my lips touched her skin.

"Thank you. You just made a young boy very, very happy. So, when would you like to move in?"

"I was going to ask you about that. Sirius, I would love to have a big Christmas party. My whole family will be here. I talked with my Ma while you were in London this morning, and they're planning on being here for the holiday, since the wedding is only a week away, and we can invite your cousin and her husband and their daughter, and all of our 'Marauding family'. It would sort of be our first real party, together. We will have already been handfasted, and then, you can stay here with some of your groomsmen before the wedding, and my family can stay at the farm and I can be at the little house..." I finally had to put my hand up to her mouth. She hasn't gotten going like this in years, it reminds me of when she was young.

"Winnie, love, slow down. If you want the house before Christmas, then you will have it before Christmas," I kissed her on the forehead.

"Really?" she was jumping up and down. "Oh, Sirius, that would be wonderful. What about the money? I am sure that this is going to cost so much," she had stopped jumping, and now looked worried.

"Anwen, I have my entire family fortune to work with. Money will not be a problem," I pulled my watch out. "However, it's well past six, we've been here for over five hours. How about if I take you out for dinner, and then you can get home and get a good nights sleep before your new job tomorrow."

"All right. We still haven't figured out where we are going to live until this place is done?"

"How does this sound? We will go get some of your things back from the farm, and we live in the London house until this one is finished. We can let Moony live at the farm. We'll all have privacy then."

"That sounds perfect. I love you."

"I love you, too" I said, sealing it with a kiss. We headed back down all the flights of stairs, until we came to the main floor. "Since you want to live here, there is one other thing that I want to show you," I said as I pulled her into the drawing room. On the wall that the door was located on, stood the family tapestry. It was the Black Family Tree. Anwen stood looking at it, her mouth hanging open. I came up and stood behind her, my arms around her. I kissed her temple.

"This is the family you will be marrying into. That was me." I said, pointing to a charred spot near the bottom of the tree. "Mother blasted me off the summer I left to live with James."

"Sirius, the needlework is beautiful. I've never seen one of these so large. I know that you're not crazy about most of your family, but as a tapestry, it's amazing. Can it be repaired?" I pulled my wand and pointed it at the spot. Nothing happened.

"I can't fix it. Why don't you give it a try?" Anwen raised her left hand, the hand that held her engagement ring, over the burned mark and closed her eyes. I watched in amazement as the dark stain began to dissolve, and threads worked to knit themselves back together. Soon, a younger version of my own face was staring back at me, smiling. Anwen rested herself against me.

"That was amazing love. How did you do it?"

"I'm not sure. It has it's own magic, and it's not dark magic, it's just strongly enchanted. I manipulated it, the same way that I manipulate my own. It was hard work though, I'm a little tired now," she said, exhaling greatly. I turned her so that she faced me.

"See, you are strengthening and repairing this rotten old tree already," I smiled and softly kissed her lips. When I looked back down, delicate gold threads were starting to weave the tell-tale double line that indicated a marriage.

"Look sweetheart," I told her as I pointed. "It's getting ready to add you as my wife."

"That's amazing," she reverently whispered and we watched for a moment longer. "Come on, I want to get out of here. All the dark magic is giving me the creeps," she said, pulling me from the room.