Remus walked into Grimmauld's kitchen to find Sirius sitting there with a bottle in front of him. He snatched up the bottle and placed it firmly away.

"Oi," protested Sirius, "I was going to drink that!"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Now you're not."

Sirius didn't say or do anything for a while. Remus didn't do anything, he knew that look on Sirius face even though he had only seen it a few times before, Sirius was in deep conversation. To keep himself busy Remus made them both cups of tea.

Sirius left the room abruptly and before Remus could puzzle where he had gone, he returned holding a scroll.

Sirius looked at him and commented, "It feels the same as last time, doesn't it?"

Remus didn't have to ask what Sirius meant, "Worse, last time people were aware."

Sirius nodded in agreement, "Still, the feeling that we could die at any point has returned full force."

Remus didn't know how to respond to that. Thankfully, before silence could resettle around them, the door open and a now familiar crash greeted their ears plus a lot of swearing.

"Bloody, effing stand. Got something against me it has," mumbled Dora, striding into the kitchen and then looked up. "Hello, why do you two look all moody? It's not still over Snape, is it?"

Remus chuckled and gave Dora a hug. Trust her to make an entrance and make the mood lighter.

Sirius grinned, albeit it was a bit strained, "Nah, it was about even more depressing stuff!"

"Like what?" asked Dora, looking absolutely confused, if only they could have her innocence.

"Like the last war," he told her quietly.

Dora immediately looked horrified, "Sorry! I shouldn't have asked, if only I weren't so damn nosey . . ."

Remus was just about to tell her how silly she was being when Sirius beat him to it.

"Don't be stupid. Anyway, this is a different war and hopefully will end much sooner than the last."

Dora was thinking, he could tell. Not just from the colour her hair was changing but from the way her eyes focused on the table but weren't actually seeing it. The frown lines on her forehead and the way she was tapping her wand on the table, changing its colour with every tap.

"I remember bits and pieces from the last war," Dora interrupted. "I know I was eight when it all ended but they say a kid is more aware of emotions. I can remember the fear that my dad would tell my mum about another murder and the crushing feeling of guilt when I knew I still had my parents but so many others had lost theirs . . ."

Sirius and Remus sighed. He knew that feeling too but he also knew the feeling of uselessness while he watched someone being tortured or killed right before his very eyes.

Then Remus realised that Sirius was staring at both of them very intently.

"If I die," Sirius started, "Do any of you want this house?"

Remus saw a stunned look on Dora's faces and he knew his face mirrored hers almost exactly.

"Siri," choked out Dora, "What do you mean?"

"I have this, this feeling that I'm not going to see the end of this war," Sirius said very quietly and shook his head when he noticed that he and Dora were going to interrupt. "Don't both denying it. There's a voice at the back of my head says it's true. Whether it happens soon or in three years, I'm just not. I want you both to know that I love you very much and I'm glad to have shared some of my life with you."

Tears were brimming in Dora's eyes as she hugged her cousin. Remus went behind them and embraced them both. The three of them just stood there, savouring each other's company.

"You two haven't answered my question," Sirius broke in, earning a chuckle from Remus and a weak giggle from Dora.

"I am not going to ever accept this Hellhole," he declared. "The only reason I'm even here is because of The Order and you, Sirius."

Dora nodded her head, "Ditto, Snuffles."

"What about Andy?" asked Sirius hopefully, staring at Dora.

Dora shook her head, "Nah, just the other day she told me she was glad that she was only the disowned niece of your parents so the welfare of this house would never be on her conscience."

Sirius grumbled good-naturedly for a few minutes about, "High and mighty cousins" before randomly commenting, "Harry will just have to take it. I'll write it in my Will"

"You're what?" asked Dora

"That's what you brought in," said Remus, his mind dawning with comprehension.

"Yup," replied Sirius, opening it up and adding something to it. "I've left stuff for you, Remus, Pixie-Nym (Dora growled at this), Andy and Harry."

"You better have left more to Harry than me" warned Remus. "I have memories to remember you, Harry doesn't."

Sirius just smiled at him with that annoying, arrogant grin of his and thrust the parchment at him, "Sign as witnesses you two"

Remus picked up the quill and tried to get a look at what Sirius had written but Sirius wagged a finger at him. So he signed it in silence and passed the parchment to Dora who did the same.

He didn't know about Dora but by signing Sirius' will Remus felt like things had changed. For better or for worse, he couldn't tell but it didn't stop a feeling of foreboding creep across him. Especially with all the talk about death and the last war.

Dora looked at him and smiled gently. "The ones we love never truly leave us," she told them confidently.

"You sounded creepily like Dumbledore," accused Sirius, pointing his finger at Dora who stuck her tongue out in response.

Remus just rolled his eyes at the childishness of it all. Honestly, was he the only adult around here?

"You-you, Moony-lover!" retorted Sirius to some comment Dora made about his masculinity.

"At proud of it!" crowed Dora, wrapping her arms around him in a now familiar position.

Sirius pouted and Remus couldn't help but laugh. Things were relatively back to normal in Grimmauld. Dora reached across the table to smack Sirius on the arm, knocking over a number of things in the process. Mind you, they weren't that normal in the first place.