Chapter 37
As My Memory Rests
(Interlude I: Sirius Black)

Author's Note: Most of the next two chapters are rather random, almost interlude-like chapters, but a fun way to get through September instead of a big time-skip. It was going to be one chapter, but I think I need to do it with two.

Minor chapter spoiler: James and Lily's Wedding date is uncanon.

Edit: Made a mistake, had to re-upload.

As my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" – Green Day

The following day, at noon, Sirius Black walked out of the fireplace and into The Leaky Cauldron. He had just finished up with an appointment at St. Mungo's, and had come to Tom's pub for another meeting, one he was very much looking forward to.

One more month, he mused, as he walked across the large room to find a table, One more month, and I can be reinstated as an Auror.

"Sirius!" a familiar voice called out.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Arthur Weasley sitting there, in front of him a plate of Tom's special-of-the-day: a BLT sandwich, chips, and a slice of some kind of pie, from the looks of it.

"Been meaning to talk to you," Arthur said, "Come and sit down."

Sirius shrugged and walked over to Arthur's table and sat across from him.

"Can't stay long," Sirius said, "Meeting Amelia here in a few minutes."

"Madam Bones?" Arthur asked, with a grin, "A date?"

"I wish," Sirius scoffed, "She's playing hard to get. Women! Nah, just been at St. Mungo's for my monthly check-up, as Amy requested. One more month, Arthur, and you're looking at a reinstated Auror!"

"Congratulations, Sirius," Arthur said.

"So she wanted to check up on me," Sirius said, "Though, who knows? It could be her excuse for a date! What are you doing here? Sunday is usually the day off for you."

"Muggle please-men found a warehouse in South London full of Charmed – err – toasters, I think they're called. And a whole slew of other stuff. Obliviators were sent to wipe the Muggle memories, and make sure no department on their side knows anything funny, and my department was sent in for the raid."

"How fun," Sirius said, "So you've been wanting to speak to me?"

Arthur sighed and nodded. He took a drink from his glass of butterbeer and set it down.

"Has Harry sent you any post this past week, Sirius?" Arthur asked.

"No visit from Hedwig or any other owl," Sirius said, shaking his head, "Why? Should he have?"

"So you don't know what happened last Sunday?" Arthur asked, frowning.

Sirius looked at Arthur, concerned. "What happened to Harry?"

"Nothing… on Sunday," Arthur said, "Well, nothing really. Sirius… has Harry told you anything that he wouldn't have wanted to tell me and Molly?"

Sirius frowned. What had Arthur and Molly discovered? Which secret? He decided to throw out a wild guess.

"I asked him to tell you more about what happened at the Dursleys," Sirius said, "He's quite open with me about it."

"No, nothing to do with the Dursleys," Arthur said. "Anything to do with – with my daughter?"

Sirius sighed.

"You know then?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes.

Sirius nodded, though he wasn't sure what Arthur and Molly knew. The Soul-Bond or the time-travel? Arthur looked around and lowered his voice.

"You knew about their Soul-Bond?" he asked, "And you didn't tell me or Molly?"

"He – they – asked me to keep it a secret until they were ready," Sirius said. "They were going to tell you. Did they tell you?"

"We had to find out from Albus Dumbledore," Arthur said, sighing. "Somehow on Sunday night, Ginny wound up in the middle of the Great Hall, in her pyjamas."

Sirius closed his eyes… he knew how much Ginny would miss Harry. But to teleport in the middle of all those students and Professors?

"They told me they can teleport," Sirius said, slowly.

"Aye," Arthur said, nodding, "But Albus said that isn't what happened. Apparently Hogwarts itself summoned her there, because of their bond. She's now the youngest first year ever."

"She's a first year?" Sirius asked, amazed, "With Harry?"

Sirius nodded.

"How's Molly taking this?" Sirius asked.

Arthur frowned and sighed. He took another drink of his butterbeer.

"Should have gotten something stronger," he muttered, then looked at Sirius. "How much do you know about Harry and Ginny's bond?"

"As much as they do, I suppose," Sirius said, shrugging.

"Teleportation," Arthur said, "Telepathy, sharing emotions and pain… and… they're apparently married."

"Yeah," Sirius said, nodding.

Arthur sighed. "My little girl is married."

"How's Molly taking this?" Sirius tried again.

"Molly and I took Ginny here to Diagon Alley to do school shopping on Monday," Arthur said. "I had to go to the Ministry to take a leave of family emergency for the day. So it was just Molly and Ginny for about… oh, half an hour. Well, we couldn't afford Ginny's school stuff… we hadn't planned on that. And… Sunday evening, Ginny and Harry told us it didn't matter. They were able to use Harry's big vault. The one his mother and father owned, the one he was supposed to get when he turned seventeen."

"Aye," Sirius said.

"Molly went down there to the vault with Ginny," Arthur said, "and she said she took one look at the vault and… did you know how much James and Lily had?"

"James came from a wealthy line of family, Arthur," Sirius said, "It wasn't a secret."

"Ginny seems so happy to be in this position," Arthur said, "I – I don't know what to think about it. She's had a fancy for Harry for years, ages before she met him. Molly and I – we wrote letters to the kids a couple nights ago, Errol probably arrived at Hogwarts yesterday with them. She wouldn't write to Harry, Sirius. She refused to let me write to him too. She's – she's not very supportive of this. She knows about the emancipation thing, and she's afraid Ginny will run off with Harry. Molly found out about the properties Harry owns now, and – she's afraid Ginny will decide she doesn't need a guardian, and she'll move in with Harry. Molly said from the looks of their vault, they can take care of each other, and not even worry a wink if Ginny leaves the Burrow… even at ten years old!"

Sirius nodded. He thought of Melina the house-elf, of Harry's offer to let him live in the house… their minds being that of adults. If it came to it, they could reveal their Soul-Bond, and nobody could legally make them do anything… they could live on their own.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked.

"I'm trying to be supportive of Ginny and Harry," Arthur said. "I understand this is a troubling for them. We don't know what the Soul-Bond will bring for them. I've tried to do some research on the Soul-Bonds… looking for anything that will tell me something I can learn about, without Molly's knowledge of it. I know some things, and all theories point to – Ginny and Harry are going to need our help in this, Sirius. Sooner or later they will… and we can't afford the possibility of them distancing themselves from us. But…"

He sighed and shook his head.

"Molly doesn't know what to do about Harry," he said, "She's been talking about things lately. Bill and Charlie's coming home for Christmas, so they'll get their room back during the holiday, when Harry is there – he'll have to sleep in Ron's room. You see what she's doing?"

Sirius nodded. "She's trying to make sure Harry isn't alone in his room at night."

"Am I mad to think that?" Arthur asked, "They're ten and eleven, Sirius! They're kids… and she's wrung out because they're… technically… married. Ginny said she likes being married, and this made Molly panic. That first night… I had to dose her with Sleeping Draught just to make her happy."

He drank another sip of his butterbeer.

"I was hoping yesterday would change things for Molly," Mr. Weasley said.

"What happened yesterday?" Sirius asked.

"Molly and I got a letter from Minerva McGonagall," Arthur said. "Apparently she and Poppy Pomfrey know about the Soul-Bond now."

"Minnie – how?" Sirius asked.

"Right, guess I should start from the beginning," Arthur said; he seemed very distracted, "Yesterday was the first years' first flying lessons. It was optional, so I don't know why Harry and Ginny were there. They know how to fly. But they were… and somehow… apparently Albus and Minerva think someone jinxed Ginny's broom."

"Jinxed?" Sirius said, trying to keep his voice low.

Arthur nodded. "She said the broom kept raising higher and higher into the air out of control. She only seen part of this, and heard the rest. Students inside the castle were causing a commotion. She saw Harry and Ginny fifty feet in the air, and still rising, and she said Harry was right below her trying to catch her. It seemed like had a good plan, she says, but the broom started to shake and Ginny fell off. Harry tried to catch her and –"

Arthur's plate shook as his hands did. "He didn't – not at first. She started falling toward the ground, and he dropped out of the air on his broom and flew toward her, and was able to pull her up on his broomstick!"

"Harry caught Ginny out of the air?" Sirius asked, gobsmacked.

"She said she couldn't believe it!" Arthur said, shrugging. "It gets more unbelievable. So she said she took Harry and Ginny to the Hospital Wing – Ginny for shock, Harry for a muscle injury he got catching Ginny – and Poppy ran diagnostic checks…"

"And saw their Soul-Bond," Sirius said, hoarsely, "St. Mungo's would turn the two of them into an experiment if they found out. Merlin!"

"That's not the best part… you might like this one," Arthur said, "McGonagall said she was so impressed with Harry, she made him the new Gryffindor Seeker."

Sirius' mouth was in the middle of a grin and a perfect O.

"Youngest Seeker in a century," Arthur said, laughing, "She wants me and Molly to send Harry his broom."

"Oh, James Potter would have a hippogriff," Sirius chuckled, shaking his head.

Arthur nodded, then frowned. "Molly doesn't know what to think. Harry saved our little girl, and she's happy – but –"

"She's still got thoughts of their bond and marriage on her mind," Sirius said, nodding.

Arthur nodded.

"I tell you what," Sirius said, "I'll write to Harry, and talk to him about it. I'll tell him you wanted to write too, so he doesn't think you hate him."

"I could never hate that boy," Arthur said, smiling weakly, "As much as it pains me to say it… I think he's rather taken after Ginny. No surprise there."

"Potters can't resist a red-head," Sirius said, chuckling.

Arthur smiled and nodded.

"Well, I better get to my reserved table," Sirius said, "Amy will be here any minute."

"Thanks for the discussion, Sirius," Arthur said, "I needed to talk to someone about that, and I had a feeling you knew about their bond."

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Sirius said, "They wanted me to keep it a secret."

"They knew how Molly and I might react," Arthur said, "I understand. You could tell how fearful they were of the fact we were learning this information – and not on their own terms."

Sirius nodded and stood up. "Give Molly my best."

Arthur smiled. Sirius walked across the room, and found the table with a folded place-card on it, reading Sirius Black and Amelia Bones. Sirius smiled as he sat down. The card looked rather familiar… it was new, but it reminded him of something. He couldn't remember it, though. He ran his fingers over Amelia's name… and his mind traveled back to another memory…

December 24th, 1976

"James Potter and Sirius Black!" a high voice shrieked, "Exactly what are you doing?"

Sirius groaned, right along with his best mate James Potter. They were caught. It was the Yule Ball at Hogwarts, and they were in their sixth year. They had been spiking the punchbowls with Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, a stash they had bought from the lovely Madam Rosmerta. The first punchbowl had already been spiked, but they were so excited – so punch-drunk on their success- they hadn't kept a look-out, or asked Remus or Peter to do so. Though, of course… Remus was one of the chaperones that evening, given that he was a Prefect. One of the other chaperones was…

"Lily-bean!" James said, "Did you come over here to ask me to dance?"

"In your dreams, Potter!" Lily Evans growled.

She took her wand from her silver and white skirt, and pointed at the bottle of firewhiskey, banishing it.

"Hey!" James said.

"You didn't think you were going to get caught, did you?" Lily asked.

James looked at Sirius, and he grinned.

"You're right… you caught us," Sirius said, frowning.

"Sorry, Lily-bean," James said.

"Shame… we should have spiked the other bowl first," Sirius said, doing his best to keep a straight face.

"Hmm, I knew I heard a shriek!" a new voice said, "Why am I not surprised… James and Lily?"

Sirius grinned when he saw Amelia Bones walking over to them. She looked other-worldly beautiful in her silver and gold gown.

"James and Lily," James said, sighing, "Lily-bean, do you not see how that works out? Maybe add Potter to the end…"

"Keep dreaming, Potter!" Lily growled.

"Well, I'm bushed," Amelia said, "I need a drink. Hmm.. which one did you two not spike?"

Amelia walked over to the other punchbowl – the spiked one – and dipped a cup into it. She caught Sirius' eye and winked and drank.

Sirius' eyes widened. She KNEW it was spiked!

"I was right," Amelia said, "Pure butterbeer and strawberry punch. Lily?"

"Sure," Lily said, "Punishing Marauders is tough work…"

"A lifetime job," Amelia said, handing her a glass.

Lily took a sip and Sirius saw Amelia hide a grin. Sirius looked at James; his best friend looked as if he had won a lottery.

"Hey, Black!" Amelia said, "If you're done trying to prank somebody, do you want to do something?"

Sirius' eyes widened.

"Amelia Bones!" Lily growled.

"What?" Amelia asked, "Just because you don't want one of the Marauders, doesn't mean I can't have one."

"She wants you bad, Padfoot," James whispered.

"Good luck with Bean, Prongs," Sirius said, then looked at Amelia, "I'd be delighted. A dance?"

Amelia gulped down her drink and set the cup down.

"I was thinking of taking a walk," she said, with a wink.

Sirius grinned… oh, what a lucky dog he was tonight!

"Sirius… Sirius Black!" a familiar voice said, breaking him out of his reverie.

Sirius blinked and looked up. Amelia Bones was standing there.

"I bought two specials for us," she said, "Tom will bring them over soon."

Sirius nodded.

"Staring off into space, were you?" Amelia asked, as she sat down.

"Reminiscing," Sirius said. "You gave Lily that spiked drink that night at the Yule Ball."

Amelia's eyes raised in surprise, and she chuckled.

"So I wanted to give James and Lily a kick-start," she said, then shrugged, "Didn't work, did it?"

"For some reason, I thought I had started our – relationship," Sirius said, "I forgot you asked me to do something that night instead."

Amelia chuckled. "You were oblivious back then, Black. I had to do something. Why were you reminiscing, hmm?"

"Do you have to ask?" Sirius replied.

Amelia frowned.

"Sirius," she said, "I –"

"Things are different than they were twelve years ago, Amy," Sirius said, "What's wrong this time?"

Amelia sighed and looked around. She then lowered her voice. "Did you forget what you asked me the day you were released? If you want to become Lord Black, and get your butt on those all-important seats, how would it look to both our careers if we were suddenly… involved?"

"You're worried about that?" Sirius asked.

"This is just as important to me as it is to you," Amelia said. "We could clean up the Ministry. Do you really want to waste it like that?"

"It wouldn't be a waste," Sirius said, "We were quite well together last time. Don't you think we could have gone on to become more if things were different?"

She frowned. "What did you want to talk to me about today?"

Sirius sighed… he'd let this slide for now. "St. Mungo's says I'll be healthy enough to be reinstated in a month."

"Congratulations," Amelia said, smiling, "I'm sure you're pleased."

"Delighted," Sirius said, and he knew how his voice sounded.

"Sirius," Amelia said, frowning, "If things were different –"

She was interrupted by Tom appearing at their table with two trays of food and bottles of butterbeer.

"Can I have mine to go?" Amelia asked, as she put coins down, paying for both her and Sirius' meals, "I won't be very long."

Tom smiled and pointed his wand behind him. A large paper sack zoomed across the room and landed on the table.

"Thanks," Amelia said.

Tom bowed slightly and walked away. Apparently he knew this was one discussion he didn't want to be in the middle of.

"If things were different?" Sirius urged, as he looked down at his BLT.

"I've had two relationships in the past twelve years, Sirius," Amelia said, "Neither lasted over six months."

Sirius' eyebrows raised at this response.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked, "I'll find them and –"

"I broke up with them," Amelia said, then sighed, "Because they weren't you."

"So… what's the problem?" Sirius asked.

"I told you," Amelia said, "I can't do this right now. I –"

She put her food in the paper sack. She stood up and looked at him.

"I'll talk to you later, Black," she said, "Come see me in a month to get your badge back."

She frowned and looked as if she wanted to say more. But she didn't. She turned and walked away. Sirius looked down at his BLT and then his eyes traveled to the placement card. He now realized what it reminded him of…

April 25th, 1979

Sirius' eyed the words in front of him. It read: Sirius Black and Amelia Bones. They were on a placement holder to mark the seating arrangement at the table he was currently sitting at.

"Speech!" Six-year old Nymphadora Tonks, her hair a bright red said.

The hundred-plus guests of Potter Manor laughed and echoed her.

Twenty-year old Sirius Black stood up, then smiled as he looked down at his best friend, James, who was dressed in black and silver robes. He was sitting there next to his new bride, Lily, a long white dress flowing from her.

"Six long years," Sirius said, "Six years I had to listen to James Potter fawn over Lily Evans in the corridors of Hogwarts. Three of those years, I had to listen to James Potter ask Lily Evans out, almost daily, and hear Lily answer with a resounding "NO!" or other colorful words.

Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Amelia Bones and Frank and Alice Longbottom laughed.

Lily chuckled along with them and blushed, her cheeks matching her hair.

"James and I had a falling out at the end of our sixth year," Sirius said, frowning, "And on the first day of term for seventh year, I walked onto the Hogwarts Express, looking to maybe try to rekindle our friendship. I look for James, and I find him in one of the carriages… holding hands and snogging Lily Evans!"

James whooped and the guests laughed. Lily smacked James' shoulder.

"He still hasn't told me the story of what happened that summer," Sirius said.

"And I never will!" James said, with a wink.

"I guess what I am trying to say is," Sirius said, then looked at Amelia and grinned, "Never give up on what you want. You'll get it in the end."

Sirius bowed slightly at the newlyweds and sat down as the guests clapped.

Twenty minutes later, the dance floor of the ballroom at Potter Manor was occupied with wedding guests dancing to instrumental music. Sirius was engaged in a slow dance with Amelia Bones, her head resting on his shoulder.

In the pocket of his robes, a silver ring was resting in a maroon box… itching to be let out. He knew the moment was coming… James had given his blessings to let him do it during the wedding reception. But he didn't know when he should.

Amelia looked up at Sirius and she seemed to be thinking of something.

"Sirius, I need to talk to you about something," she said.

"Okay," Sirius said, his thoughts happy over the question he was going to ask soon.

"I'm being accepted into an apprentice role of sorts in the Ministry of Magic," Amelia said, "Working with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Congratulations," Sirius said, "Good job for you."

Amelia nodded then sighed. "I don't know if I want to take it."

"Of course you should take it," Sirius said, "Why wouldn't you?"

Amelia frowned. "I'm not sure the Ministry would like - associations I could be involved with."

"What?" Sirius asked, extremely confused.

"Edgar talked to me a few days ago, Sirius," Amelia said, and he thought her saw her eyes get moist, "He wanted to invite me into the Order. And he told me you, the Marauders and Lily were a part of it."

Sirius felt his throat go dry. Albus Dumbledore had asked him, Lily and his three friends to be a part of it a few months back. But it was supposed to be a secret, even from Amelia.

"He told me the Ministry can't know about it, Sirius," Amelia said, "And he said… he couldn't say much because of the Secret Keeper Charm, but it makes me think there is going to be insiders from the Order in the Ministry trying to get information."

Sirius nodded. He would soon get into the Auror Headquarters, graduating from the Corp, and he would be an insider with the Order.

"If I took this job, Sirius," Amelia said, "The job you think I should take. I can't be associated with anything in the Order."

Sirius' eyes widened. He then realized what she was saying.

"I can't make you do anything, Amy," Sirius said.

"I know," he said, nodding, "I know, and – I'm sorry. I have to take this job. It's good for me."

"It is," Sirius nodded.

"But… if I gain this job, I lose something else," she said, then Sirius saw tears in her eyes, "If I take this job, I can't be with you, Sirius. It would get me in trouble, it would get you in trouble, and possibly the Order if it got out."

Sirius felt his heart go into his throat. The ring in his pocket seemed to be burning.

"Amelia," he said, "What if – what if we tried?"

"Sirius," Amelia said, a sob escaping her throat, "We can't try –"

Sirius took a hand from around her waist, and forced it into his pocket, pulling out the maroon box.

"Marry me, Amy," Sirius said. "This is not how I wanted to ask you, but please…"

Tears were pouring down Amelia's face. She moved her arms from around his neck.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she said, "I can't –"

She let the tears fall and walked away from him. Sirius stood there in the middle of the dance floor, feet from where the newlyweds were dancing, and let the tears fall.

Sirius sniffled and looked up. He saw Tom behind the bar, and he raised his hand to signal him.

"To-go bag," he said, trying to fight the tears.

Tom nodded and a paper sack flew across the room to the table. Sirius hurriedly put his food into the sack as well as the bottle. He looked at the placement card, took it and pocketed it in his robes. He stood up and headed for the Floo Network.

He couldn't think about this now… he had a note to a godson to write.

And you might find out about that note later… next chapter is another interlude… mostly centered around Hermione.

I loved this chapter so much. I really want to get into Sirius and Amelia's relationship, as well as the Weasleys' reactions and relationship when it comes to Harry. Both were done well in this chapter.

More to come!