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PART THIRTY-SIX
June 17, 1984, Blackpool, Lancashire, England

Sirius kept his eyes locked on Harry and JJ as the two boys played with Neville on the beach. It was true Alice and Yuki were not far away from them with Noriko and Lex, but still he fretted, especially given the circumstances.

Walburga smirked unpleasantly at Sirius, glaring down her nose at him. "Sirius, you can take your eyes of the Potter boy. I will not abscond with him the second your back is turned in order to earn favour again."

Sirius turned to look back at his mother. She was sitting beneath a tent with Algie at her side. He smiled tightly back at her. "I'm not going to take any chances, Mother. Still don't trust you farther than I can throw you."

"Sirius, you can't blame your mother for maintaining her pride," Algie said, patting Walburga on the hand. "You know a lot of people were confused during the war."

"She wasn't confused," Sirius growled. "She knew exactly what she was doing." He looked hard at Algie. "You know, you can do better."

"Why do you continue to see me if I am so horrible?" Walburga asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Because you'll send that mad House Elf after me if I don't. And frankly, when you asked me to meet you here, I was dead curious. I didn't think you knew there was a world outside of London."

"I haven't been in London in several months," Walburga replied, looking fondly to Algie, something which caused Sirius's stomach to twist in disgust. "I've been staying with Algernon. I've left Kreacher to watch the house."

Sirius's face contorted in a grimace. "You two have been living together? Like-"

"Yes, we've been having sex," Walburga snapped waspishly.

"Gah!" Sirius jumped to his feet, clapping his hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear that!" He shuddered. "No one wants to hear that!"

He turned back to his mother and pointed a finger at her. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't you care what people will think?"

Walburga rolled her eyes. "I'm old. No one cares what I do. And as you have been so kind to point out on multiple occasions, all of my old associates have no desire to speak with me. I'll do as I wish."

Sirius continued to gag. "Do what you like. Just don't tell me about it." He shook his head. "Merlin's beard... Don't do that to a bloke."

"You won't have to put up with it for long," Walburga sighed. She looked to Algie once again and smiled. "We've decided to go on holiday. Indefinitely. In South America."

Sirius went very still. He furrowed his brow deeply. "Holiday. In South America."

Walburga nodded. "Yes."

Sirius slipped back into his seat. "Mother, you are well aware that is another country, right? Another continent, in fact." He shook his head. "There will be wizards who don't look like you. And Muggles."

Walburga rolled her eyes once again, shaking her head. "You must think me the fool, Boy. I am quite aware of that. I am bored of being around people who wish nothing to do with me. Neither my former social circle nor your little... Gang... Think me worth anything." She gestured to her companion. "Algernon is the only person worthwhile to be around. Thus, why not be around him amongst an entirely new group of wizards?"

Sirius rubbed his temples. "I think I need a stiff drink."

"I would think you would enjoy this, boy. I will be out of your hair for good." She reached for her handbag. "Now, Kreacher will be fine running the house while I am gone. However." She withdrew a slender gold key from her bag and held it out to Sirius. "This is for you."

Sirius took the key from his mother and stared down at it. "What is this?"

"I realize your uncle Alphard left you some gold. However, I suspect over the past eight years it's dwindled considerably, especially with your tastes. I know your fiancée-" Her lip curled in distaste. "-is working a trade, but you are unemployed. You have my grandchildren to support. So- there. That's your trust fund. Didn't touch a Galleon after you left. Thought you would come back to your senses."

Sirius continued to stare at the key. "My trust fund."

Walburga gave him a withering look. "Don't expect more than that until I'm dead, Boy."

Sirius finally slipped the key into his pocket. "This was more than I expected." He swallowed hard as he looked up at his mother. "Th-" The words seemed to stick in his throat. "Thank you?"

Walburga sneered. "Was that really so hard? James John!" She called out sharply.

JJ ran up to his Grandmother, his legs sandy from his play with Harry and Neville. Harry followed closely behind JJ, wary of the older woman.

"I have something for you too," Walburga said, looking through her handbag. "I found it in Regulus's room. Had a devil of a time getting it away from Kreacher. Didn't want to part with it. But it shouldn't just collect dust. Ah, here it is."

She drew out a heavy gold locket, with green stones inlayed in a serpentine S. She held it out to JJ. "Well? Take it, boy."

Sirius's lip curled at the gaudy jewellery. "It's jewellery. Are you sure you wouldn't rather wait and give that to Noriko when she's older? Or maybe throw it on a fire?"

"It was Regulus's," Walburga snapped waspishly. "Therefore, it should go to the Black Family Heir."

Sirius smiled tightly. "Technically, that's me again."

"It belongs to James John," Walburga intoned darkly, urging JJ to take it.

JJ took the locket from his grandmother and looked down at it curiously, as if he was unsure what to do with it. "Fank." He bowed his head. He turned to show it to Harry.

Harry scowled and his shoulders seemed to tense up as he looked at the locket. "Don't like it."

He reached to snatch the locket from his brother to throw it away, but JJ held the locket to his chest protectively, frowning at Harry. "Gamma gave me."

Harry frowned deeply at JJ and turned, running off back towards Neville. JJ looked down at the locket curiously.

Sirius held out his hand. "Give it here, Pup. I'll hold onto it until we go home."

JJ handed the locket over to his father and then ran off back after Harry. Sirius held the locket by its chain and looked it over. "Well, mother... You've picked the absolutely most wretched present for a three year old boy ever."

Walburga glared at Sirius. "If I find out you've thrown that out, Sirius Orion, I'll make you suffer."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Because you've never done that before."

Once the family arrived back home, JJ insisted on getting his locket back from Sirius. Then, with Yuki's help, he placed it in the top drawer of his dresser.

"That thing is just awful," Sirius groused, wrapping his arms around Yuki's waist. Remus was in the boys' room with the kids, regaling them tonight with a chapter of Alicia in Terra Mirabili, another Muggle tale that had been translated into Latin.

"JJ wants to keep it," Yuki said plainly. She looked up at Sirius before getting onto her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "He'll forget about it eventually and we'll be able to throw it out when we have a spring cleaning. Just let it go for now."

"Can't believe my mother is going to South America," Sirius sighed. "With a boyfriend." He couldn't suppress his shudder.

Yuki gave him a stern look. "Our children are currently Remus's captive audience. Darling, we are wasting time with your grousing. We should be having an Animagic lesson."

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Haven't you been listening to me, Woman? I was talking about my mother and a boyfriend. How you think I can shag you..."

Yuki rolled her eyes and turned to Sirius. "You know, it was entirely possible I was talking about an actual lesson in Animagic and not one where my knickers end up across the room."

"What's the fun in that?" Sirius asked.

Yuki gave Sirius a hard punch in the arm and he winced, rubbing the spot where she had hit. "Don't do that," he grumbled. "You have tiny but powerful fists." He took her hands. "It's like they're made of goblin wrought steel."

Yuki glared at him silently.

He smirked at her and leaned in. "Okay, gorgeous, Japanese violent wench wrought steel?"

Yuki just continued to glare at him. "Are we going to have a lesson or what?"

Sirius wrinkled his nose once again. "I dunno. If I'm not able to give you detention and then put you over my knee, I don't know if it's worth it..."

Yuki's glare became more pronounced. "Sirius, I will hit you and it will hurt and you will cry."

Sirius's jaw dropped and there was a dangerous glint in his grey eyes. "I do not cry!"

Yuki crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't remember when I caught you flirting with that fifth-year, Charity?"

Sirius glowered at his fiancée. "You kneed me in the Misters." He gestured down to himself. "Any tears involving that area don't count as real tears. And you know, you really weren't very nice to me when you caught me in situations like that."

"Nice? Nice?" Yuki's eyes flashed dangerously. "The fact that it happened multiple times just proves I have endless patience."

Sirius gestured to himself, smirking unpleasantly. "Whenever I caught some bloke sniffing around you, I was always a gentlemen... I hexed him when you weren't looking."

Yuki nodded slowly. "Is that how Davey Gudgeon ended up on top of the Quidditch goal post?"

"Yeah." Sirius nodded resolutely, continuing to smirk at Yuki, obviously trying to rile her. "Because I'm a gentleman."

"You're a savage, more like it," Yuki replied in disgust, crossing her arms. "I never encouraged any of the boys who came after me. You, on the other hand, would've withered away and died if you didn't think the whole world wanted to boff you."

Sirius continued to glare down at Yuki. "Yeah, well..."

They were both quiet for a moment. Sirius then grabbed Yuki by the hips and she hopped up, wrapping her legs around Sirius's waist. Their lips met passionately and Sirius pressed Yuki up against the wall.

After a heated moment, they parted, but still kept themselves only a breath apart. "You are fun to rile," Sirius panted. He walked them towards their bedroom. "Been a while since I riled you like that."

"Yeah, well, we've got kids to look after." Yuki buried her fingers in Sirius's hair. "Being riled isn't exactly top priority. So are we going to have a lesson?"

"Regular or a fun one?" Sirius asked as he opened the door.

"What do you think, baka na inu?" Yuki closed the door behind him and allowed Sirius to draw her into another kiss.

Sirius fell down onto the bed, pulling Yuki with him. "That I'm a very lucky man to have found a girl who thinks it's hot to fight with me."

Yuki grinned and leaned in close to Sirius. "That's because you piss off everybody you meet something awful."

Sirius reached up to undo Yuki's robes. "Well, what can I say? I'm a tempestuous individual. It means I'm deep."

Yuki laughed. "Oh, yeah... Still water, you are."

Sirius sat up slightly. "My lovely Miss Maeda, we have completed the insulting part of this evening and have moved onto the shagging. Please catch up."

Yuki just smiled at him, running a hand over his face. Sirius leaned into it with a sigh. "You know I was just trying to make her blush. Charity. The underclassmen were fun to embarrass. My head was pretty full of you by seventh year."

Yuki ran her thumb over Sirius's lip and he pressed a kiss to it. She smiled. "I know. In fact, I knew the moment you asked me out you were going to marry me."

Sirius laughed. "That right? And how is that?"

Yuki nodded firmly. "Because I decided I wanted to marry you." She leaned in. "And I always get what I want."

Sirius laughed once again, flipping them over so Yuki was beneath him. "Just don't mind taking the slow road."

Yuki pulled Sirius down towards her. "Oh, I'm a very patient one."

As the couple kissed again, there was a flash of fire beside them on the bed. Sirius pulled back immediately, seeing the scroll of parchment and the single phoenix feather lying beside them. "What the hell?"

Yuki reached for the parchment and unfurled it, beginning to read. Her eyes widened and she rolled it up once again. She began to right her rumpled clothes and ran a hand over her lip to see if her makeup had smeared. "I have to go."

"What is it?" Sirius asked. "It's from Dumbledore. Is it about Harry? Let me go tell Remus we're heading out."

Yuki shook her head. "No, Sirius... I said it's for me. The Headmaster wishes to see me. Alone." She gave him a quick kiss. "I'll be back soon."

With a dark expression, Sirius watched her leave.

Yuki took a deep breath as she walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, escorted by Filius Flitwick. It had been a long time since she had been at the school, almost six years by her count, back when the Order still took meetings at the Castle.

Flitwick stopped in front of the stone gargoyle that blocked the entrance to the Headmaster's Office. He looked up at Yuki and gave her a smile. He held out a hand. "It is good to see you, Miss Maeda. It has been far too long."

"Thanks Professor," Yuki replied, shaking Flitwick's hand. "I've missed you too. I just hope I haven't done anything wrong. The last time I was called to the Headmaster's Office, I got two week's detention."

The gargoyle moved by its own volition, revealing Dumbledore. "If I recall correctly, you and Mister Black were caught going to Ravenclaw Tower together."

"Sirius was just escorting me home," Yuki said, smiling when she recalled Sirius's own words during their squabble. "He was being a gentleman."

"Three in the morning is hardly a gentlemanly time." Dumbledore gestured up the stairs. "If you would please, Yuki. There is something I wish to discuss with you. I promise there will be no cleaning of cauldrons."

Yuki allowed the Headmaster to escort her up the stairs into his office. She sat down in front of his desk, a wary look in her eyes.

"How are you doing, Yuki?" Dumbledore asked. "We have no had the chance to speak since that unfortunate incident in New York. You are looking well. How are the children?"

"Fine," Yuki said, her voice slightly clipped. "Noriko's starting to talk, JJ insists on being allowed to dress himself and Harry is calling me Kachan."

"Is he now?" Dumbledore looked very interested in this bit of information. "You're allowing him to call you mother?"

"It's what he wants," Yuki replied. "It's not like he doesn't know about Lily." She looked irritated. "You didn't call me here to talk about Harry, did you? Because if so, Sirius and I were about to have sex and I really don't appreciate being interrupted for whatever opinion you have that you feel needs to be expressed right now."

Dumbledore blinked in shock. "No, this is not about Harry, Yuki... Although, I am pleased to hear you and Sirius are still finding time for one another even with your familial obligations."

Yuki had the good nature to blush a very deep crimson, hand flying up to cover her mouth. She kept her eyes downcast. "Why have you called me here then, Headmaster?"

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded. "I wanted to speak to you about your career. A pair of painted birdies told me you have decided to follow in your father's footsteps and work as a swordsmith."

Yuki nodded slowly. "Yeah. I have." Her brow furrowed. "You know, career advice is usually given out in fifth year."

"I will make an exception in this case." He took a parchment up from the desk. "I was looking over your school records. Top marks, made you a very impressive Auror candidate, thought I understand with your... Viewpoints... Why you would end up in the Hit Wizard Office instead. There is one thing I find curious thought."

Yuki frowned slightly. "And what is that?"

"You did not take Alchemy while you were in school," Dumbledore replied. "Which I would believe would hinder you somewhat in your new career."

Yuki shook her head. "No... It wasn't offered while I was here. I thought you would have remembered that. With the war it was hard to find someone able to teach it." She looked down at her hands, suddenly very embarrassed. "I've done a lot of research on my own on the subject and my father taught me what he could before he died."

"I believe I may be able to help you." Dumbledore took out a large quill and wrote down onto a piece of parchment. "If I am not mistaken, you have never been adverse to lessons on your own time." He held out the parchment to her. "I have told Nico of your work and he is very eager to assist you wherever he can and I assure you, he can do quite a bit."

Yuki took the parchment from Dumbledore warily. "You called me to Hogwarts in the middle of the night to get me a tutor... Just..." She shrugged her shoulders. "For the hell of it?"

"You know I always have my reasons. I wanted us to meet at a time when eyes would not be prying." Dumbledore smiled mysteriously. He pointed a long finger to the parchment Yuki clutched. "That is a very valuable name you have there. It will not be the entire sum, but think of it as a... Downpayment on your services."

Yuki looked down at the parchment she clutched, nodding slowly. "You want me to learn alchemy good and proper so I can forge something for you."

"Indeed." Dumbledore rose from his seat. "I want you to forge something very special." He turned his back to Yuki.

When he turned back around, he reverently held out the shining silver sword, rubies glittering in the hilt and the name GODRIC GRYFFINDOR clearly etched in the blade.

Yuki took the sword from Dumbledore and looked at it with awe. After a moment, she looked up at the Headmaster. "I hate to break it to you, Headmaster... But someone's already made this sword." She held it out to him once again.

"I wish to own a copy of it," Dumbledore explained. "Something that could be held up against the original and be nearly indistinguishable."

Yuki scoffed. "This is the most famous sword in Wizarding Britain. It's a Goblin-Wrought piece of medieval weapon artistry." She shook her head slowly. "So you're going to train up a fairly novice Japanese swordsmith in order to make you a forgery..."

"Duplicate, Yuki," Dumbledore said gently. "A duplicate."

"Okay. Duplicate," Yuki emphasized the word, rolling her eyes. "Still begs the question... Why aren't you asking the Goblins?" She paused for a moment, thinking about it. "Unless... You think the Goblins might come after this sword sometime in the near future."

Dumbledore shrugged slightly. "Near or far, whenever it comes... I wish to be ready for whomever wishes to take it. And I believe that day will come."

Yuki nodded slowly. "And you're asking me because regardless of all of the troubles we've had, I'm still ostensibly a member of the Order of the Phoenix and the closest thing to a swordsmith we have."

Dumbledore smiled. "And being able to figure all that out is why the Sorting Hat put you in Ravenclaw rather than Gryffindor, Yuki."

"It's going to take me time," Yuki said quickly, very business-like. "We're talking years. Like I said, that sword is a piece of art. And I expect you want me to train up with this Nico fellow before I start to work on it."

Dumbledore nodded. "I suspected as much, which is why I am asking now."

Yuki pursed her lips. "When I'm ready to actually get to work on the... Duplicate..." She smirked. "I'm going to need access to the original sword."

Dumbledore nodded once again.

"...And the Sorting Hat."

Dumbledore blinked at this. "I'm sorry?"

"The Sorting Hat," Yuki replied. "It's a sentient object that is the only other known artefact of Godric Gryffindor. The hat and sword are intrinsically connected to one another."

When Dumbledore blinked again, Yuki sighed. "I am, as your pointed out, a Ravenclaw swordsmith. And the sword is, as I pointed out, the most famous sword in Wizarding Britain. You had to know I had researched it. The hat might have some insight into the sword we're unaware of. Since I can't exactly go to the Goblins asking questions, it's the only lead I have."

Dumbledore nodded. "We will come to that when you are ready to start forging. Now, Miss Maeda, I believe you said you had a prior engagement with your fiancé..."

Yuki rose to her feet. She glanced at Dumbledore warily. "You know, I wish I could see how many steps ahead on the board you are. Because I still don't think you're telling me everything..."

"Of course I'm not." Dumbledore smiled. "What fun would that be?"