A/N - My apologies for such a long absence. I was caught up in birthday celebrations and the end of summer and the beginning of school and activities. Hopefully things are settling down. I also, unfortunately, lost the services of on of my betas who has taken on too many responsibilities to have the time to continue to work with my story. Not really excuses, just more of explanations. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and once again, thank you to all have reviewed. Special thanks to my beta DukeBrymin for his work.

Chapter Twenty-Nine – A Whirlwind Trip

Sirius glanced at the time, and then announced, "I think it would be a good idea if we all went shopping before supper. I think both Harry and Ginny need new wardrobes, and the rest of us could stand to acquire some new clothes that will better fit our geographical location and our training needs."

"Sirius, do you need to sound so pompous all the time?" asked Remus gibingly.

Ginny gave an excited squeal and looked at Fleur and Tonks in anticipation. This was going to be fun! She couldn't wait to get some new clothes, and she had a feeling that shopping with Fleur and Tonks was going to be a lot more fun than shopping with her mother.

Looking rather resigned, Harry went up to his room to collect his moneybag. He wasn't worried about the financial aspect of the proposed outing, but he wasn't certain he was prepared for the rather daunting experience of shopping with three such unique witches. It wasn't that he disliked visiting shops, after living at the Burrow, he had discovered that shopping could be quite fun and interesting. It had been extremely fascinating to see the different ways Sirius' words were welcomed. Bill had looked quite resigned. Remus appeared rather undone by the thought, and Sirius seemed almost….gleeful? All in all it promised to be quite an afternoon.

As they met up in the hall, Sirius slapped his hand against his forehead. "This reminds me," he exclaimed, "we need to teach you two to Apparate. I am aware that the Ministry claims people must be of age because of the amount of concentration and magic required, but if you ask me, it's all hogwash." Turning to address the assembled group, he asked, "All right, everyone ready?"

"Er, Sirius," Remus interrupted, "Where are we going? It would help to have a destination if we're going to Apparate there. And if we are apparating, who will be taking Harry and Ginny?"

"Oh, right. Would you stop bothering me with such trivial matters, Moony, old chum? Perhaps I ought to create a Portkey, since most of you won't know where to Apparate. Oh, and to satisfy Remus' burning curiosity, I thought we would start in Florence."

Remus threw him a filthy look that promised sweet revenge. Before he could say anything, however, Sirius activated the Portkey and they all disappeared with a jerk.

They landed in a deserted alley near the entrance to the magical shopping district. Florence's magical community was tucked in beside the Grand Hotel Minerva off of the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The seven of them meandered their way through the streets of Florence, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. For many of them, this was their first time in Italy, and they were determined to make the most of their time there.

Sirius directed them through an opening in the stonework, and, when they emerged, they found themselves in marvellous new world. Diagon Alley was magical, but the Via Magica was beyond description. The shops were just opening up after the afternoon siesta. The first shop they came across carried footwear, and the wizards were coerced in and forced to watch as the witches tried on pair after pair of shoes.

Harry decided to the browse the men's section and found some handsome dress shoes and a new pair of trainers he desperately needed. Sirius managed to talk him out of a pair of sharp-looking dragonhide boots, but Harry promised himself he would purchase a pair soon.

Forty-five minutes later, the women all emerged from the shop with at least five pairs of shoes each. Harry shook his head in disbelief. He simply could not comprehend why women always seemed to need such a large variety of shoes. Even Aunt Petunia, he shuddered at the thought, had a sizeable collection of shoes.

The next shop they entered catered to the younger, trendier members of Wizarding society. They found an extensive selection of Muggle clothing and even some more modern-looking robes. The witches decided the wizards should be outfitted first and had great fun taking Harry and Remus in hand. Fleur discreetly selected a few choice pieces for Bill, and Sirius was faring quite well on his own.

Then they moved over to the witches' side of the store. Harry had great fun watching them try on various outfits and modelling them in front of him and the other wizards. He encouraged Ginny to purchase several sleek-looking dresses, some flattering denims and shorts, and they both went overboard on selecting tops. When they moved to the bathing section, Harry developed a sudden interest in men's robe section, his face bright red.

Tonks tended to be the most outrageous in her selections, but Harry couldn't help but notice that Remus was keeping rather a close eye on her. She seemed to be gauging his reaction before deciding on something to purchase.

Remus's wardrobe suffered a complete overhaul. The witches had updated his look, but kept it classy, in keeping with Remus's personality. His Italian leather shoes matched his tan slacks and well cut light-blue shirt perfectly. Everyone was having a grand time adding spice to their wardrobes.

Sirius was modelling an outfit that made him look ridiculously handsome, when a loud gasp behind the group was heard. "Sirius? Sirius Black?"

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. It had been too many years since Sirius had last heard that voice. A voice he thought never to hear again. He closed his eyes, not daring to hope. Slowly, ever so slowly he turned around and slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his eyes. A stunning woman with long dark hair stood just beyond his group of friends. He stared into her deep brown eyes and found himself lost once again.

Sirius' initial reaction was one of intense love and longing, followed quickly by an overwhelming feeling of anger and bitterness. How dare she stand there so calmly, acting as if nothing had ever happened? Like she had just seen him the day before. Like she had never disappeared out of his life without a word, without a trace. How could she have done that to him? Did he mean nothing to her? Was what they had had together so insignificant that she could vanish without a thought, with nary a regret? He struggled valiantly to control himself from letting loose a vitriolic attack in front of his friends.

He bestowed upon her a tight smile, one that did not reach his eyes. He watched as she recoiled slightly from his look. A tinge of hurt could be seen in her eyes. He almost did not care, but the love he felt for this woman, even after all these years, would not allow him to maintain his façade of coldness. "Carina? Fancy meeting you here," he practically sneered. "I was sure you had been killed. It's the only explanation I could come up with for your sudden and prolonged disappearance."

The hurt in Carina's eyes was now profound. She couldn't believe Sirius, her Sirius, was speaking to her in such a way. And then her own indignation flared. "And you, Sirius, I thought you were in prison for multiple murders. How did you manage to finagle your way out of that? I had my reasons for disappearing. One day, perhaps you will be privileged enough to know them." She started to turn away in outrage.

Sirius winced at the bitterness that laced her words. Anger ebbed slowly out of him. With great deliberation, he walked towards her, the others parting as he approached. He stopped in front of her, his body not quite touching hers. He held out his hands in silent supplication, asking for hers, yet not daring to hope she would reciprocate his gesture. "Please, cara, a thousand pardons. I have wronged you with my anger. Once again my temper betrays me. I will not lose anyone else because of its vagaries. Again I ask, please forgive me."

Staring into his eyes, Carina slowly placed her hands in his. Eyes of stormy grey. Eyes that mirrored his soul. Eyes she simply could not forget, no matter how hard she had tried. "Sirius, caro. I too must beg your forgiveness. I have wronged you. More than you could possibly imagine." She looked away from him for a moment, then gathering her courage, stared back into his stormy eyes. "We have much to discuss. But for now, should you not introduce me to your companions?"

Sirius abruptly let go of her hands and became cognisant of the fact that six pairs of eyes were trained upon him. "Er, yes, of course. I'm here with my godson, er, your godson, and we're, erm, shopping. Yes, we came here to shop." He knew he sounded like a blithering idiot, but he couldn't help it. Carina had always reduced him to near speechlessness. "I forgot your family was from Tuscany." Come on, couldn't he do better than that? He was Sirius Black. What on earth was the matter with him? But deep down inside he knew the answer to that. He was in love with this woman, had always been in love with this woman, and would always be in love with this woman. She robbed him of the power of speech, and turned a suave cosmopolitan into a bumbling fool.

Carina laughed, a sweet musical sound that sent tingles up his spine. "Sirius, as smooth as ever, I see. Yes, my family has a villa on the outskirts of the city. I've been helping out with the family business since I left Britain." She waved her hand at the interior of the shop, "So, what do you think? Do you like it?"

Staring at her in amazement, Sirius looked around, "You, I mean your family, owns this shop? You never told me! The number of times I've been here, and you never thought to mention it?" He gave her a pained look. "It is rather smashing. As you can see, my friends and I are having a superb time shopping here." Pretending a feigned nonchalance was killing him.

Carina interrupted him, "Wait, did you say godson? You brought Harry here?" She turned to scan the assembled group. Her eyes lit on Harry, and her smile turned brilliant. "Oh my, se bello! What a handsome young man! You are your father's son. No doubt about it. And yet, a hint of Lily here and there. And those eyes. You will leave a trail of broken hearts with those eyes. Sirius, caro, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, erm, yes. Er, Harry, let me introduce you to your Godmother, Carina Conti, a very good friend of your mother's. Carina, allow me to present your godson, Harry James Potter."

Walking over to greet him, with a kiss on each cheek, Carina spoke, "Such a pleasure to finally meet you. Lily used to write such lovely letters telling me all about you. You were such a delightful baby, and you made her ecstatically happy. Both she and James adored you. I suppose Sirius did too. And I'm sure they all spoiled you to death."

Harry just stood there open-mouthed, a dumbfounded expression on his face. Ginny poked him in the side and said, "Harry, don't be a prat! Say hello to your Godmother."

Snapping his jaw shut, Harry gave a bow, and said, "Er, nice to meet you. I never knew I had a Godmother." He turned to Sirius with a reproving expression on his face. "Sirius, why didn't you tell me?"

"A couple of reasons, pup. For one, we haven't had many chances to sit down and talk, in case you've forgotten, and two, I thought she was dead, so it was rather a moot point."

Carina chose this time to join the conversation. "Well, as you can plainly see, I'm not dead. But, tell me, why are you shopping here? I thought you lived in London, in fact, the last I heard, you were in Azkaban. It seems I must be missing something here." She looked rather mystified.

Sirius cringed when she mentioned Azkaban. His time there was not a fond memory. "Well, we are staying in the Mediterranean for the summer. We just arrived early this afternoon, rather unexpectedly" He shrugged. "As a result everyone needed a change in wardrobe, so I brought them here. After all, this is the trendiest place to shop in Wizarding Europe, south of Paris." He shot Fleur an apologetic look. "As you can see, I am not currently in London, and I'd really rather not think about Azkaban."

Gazing around, Carina spotted Remus, who had been standing quietly watching the exchange with a glint of humour in his eyes. "Remus, vecchio lupo, are you hiding from me? Vieni qui!" and she grabbed him, greeting him effusively, kissing both cheeks and giving him a close hug. She held him away from her, "Ah, you need some sun! You have been spending too much time indoors. Let me see what you have chosen!" She grabbed his selections out of his hands and looked through them critically. Finally she looked at Tonks and Fleur and smiled her approval. "Magnifico! You have done a splendid job! These suit him perfectly. But," and she went to a nearby rack, "what about this? And this?" she asked pulling out several more outfits.

Fleur and Tonks responded eagerly. "Oui, parfait!" "Righto! Oi, Remus, try these on too."

Remus meekly took the proffered garments and made his way back to the dressing room. He dutifully modelled the new outfits, to the approbation of the assembled witches. He emerged and added them to his growing pile.

While Remus was in the dressing room, Carina stared at Sirius pointedly. Finally Sirius caught on, and apologetically introduced the rest of the group. "Please excuse my lack of manners. Carina Conti allow me to introduce the rest of my friends. My cousin Nymphadora Tonks –"

"Just Tonks," she snapped. "Thank you so much Sirius. You will be getting yours!" she promised him.

"Fleur Delacour, Ginevra Weasley, Harry's betrothed, and her brother, William Weasley."

"Ginevra! That is Italian! How wonderful! Wait –" her eyes widened as she took in Harry and Ginny. She turned to Sirius inquiringly. "Caro?"

Sirius shook his head vigorously, trying to stanch her unspoken question as quickly as he could. "Later. Please?" he entreated.

Carina nodded in quick understanding. Fortunately Harry and Ginny were oblivious to the exchange, and awkward questions were circumvented. Sirius wanted to avoid drawing attention to that aspect of their relationship at all costs. He should have known Carina would have recognised their bond for what it was.

"Ginny, Bill, Fleur, Tonks, I'd like to you all to meet Carina Conti, a very old and dear friend of mine. If you will all excuse me for a minute." He pulled Carina aside and spoke to her in a low tone. "Carina, when can we talk? It is imperative that we try and clear the air between us."

"You are right. I have much to tell you. Much to explain. I do not expect you to forgive me. But we at least need to talk. Do you have plans for this evening? I can ask Zia Delfina if I could have guests for dinner."

"I wish we could, but today is Harry's birthday, and I was planning on surprising him with a small party this evening."

"Mamma mia! I completely forgot. What kind of Godmother am I? Then you must come over. Zia Delfina can prepare a feast! And I can be there to help celebrate his birthday too. My first one. It will be splendido! Please, caro? You must let me." Carina was looking at him with a pleading look in her eyes.

Sirius addressed the group, "I know we all had plans for tonight –"

"We did? I didn't know we had plans," remarked Harry, clearly perplexed.

"Yes," insisted Sirius, "we did. However, Carina has invited us to join her this evening at her family estate. Is everyone willing to consider a change of plans? It should prove to be very entertaining."

Harry kept staring at Sirius as if he'd gone daft. What on earth was his godfather talking about? All they were going to do is go back to the villa and eat supper. Maybe the others had something planned. He didn't particularly care one way or another, but he didn't want to make any decisions without consulting Ginny first. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Gin, do you want to go to visit my Godmother tonight? I know it's been a long day for you. If you'd rather go back to the island and have an early night, it would be no problem."

"Oh Harry, you are so sweet and considerate. Thank you for thinking of me." She reached up and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush. "It's perfectly fine with me to go to your Godmother's. Isn't that what you want to do?"

"I think so, yes." He turned to Sirius. "It's fine with both Ginny and me, as long as it's all right with everyone else."

Carina watched their exchange with interest. She could see the pulsing magic of their bond. It was a beautiful sight. She could tell it was not complete, however, and vowed to talk to Sirius as soon as possible about it. The bond was strengthening and would soon change the parameters of their relationship.

Quietly Sirius circulated, checking with Bill and Fleur, and Remus and Tonks to see if a change of plans was acceptable to all. He reassured everyone that the party for Harry would still be on, just later than originally planned. After receiving everyone's consent, he caught Carina's eye and nodded to her.

Eying the selections the group had chosen, Carina beckoned the witches to her side and led them through a separate door to the intimate section so they could finish up their purchases. While they witches were busily picking out items and soliciting opinions, she stuck her head into the Floo and called her aunt.

After an animated conversation in rapid Italian, Carina turned her attention back to the witches and quickly decided that Ginny needed some direction. Locating Fleur, she motioned her to join her, and together they guided Ginny into a whole new world of women's apparel that would have had Molly up in arms. Ginny was blushing a bright red the whole time, but she didn't protest. She was discovering a whole new side to herself, and she had to admit she felt so pretty and feminine in the garments they had chosen for her.

Meeting back up with Sirius and the other wizards, the group headed to the front to pay for their purchases. Sirius told everyone to put their selections on the counter - he would pay for everything. Despite their vocal protests, he insisted that, as they were here to help him, he was responsible for making sure everyone was outfitted correctly.

Carina totalled their purchases, and Sirius stared at her intently. When he tried to give her more than her quoted total, she pushed the money back at him with a slight smile. Giving in gracefully, he led the group back out into the street and made plans to meet back there in about an hour.

The next stop was the bookstore. Once inside everyone scattered and silence reigned. An occasional excited whisper was heard, but for the most part everyone was intent on discovering new gems.

Only Remus noticed when Sirius and Harry slipped briefly out, although Ginny was well aware of Harry's excitement and change of location. She knew Harry was up to something. Their return went as unnoticed as their departure.

Half an hour later, Sirius let everyone know it was time to round up their selections and meet at the counter. Sirius settled the bill once more, then directed the group back outside. They spent the remainder of the time strolling along the narrow street and avidly taking in the window displays, eager to return soon when they had more time.