Harry's term would begin soon, and although his stay at Grimmauld had been rather short, there was still promise of him returning for the christmas holidays... Sirius could see the doubt in the boys eyes, however. Harry was still fearing his return to the Dursleys and who could blame him? They where an abusive and manipulative family, how Lilly could have been related to them was beyond him.
Thankfully Harry was nothing like them at all.
Sirius smiled as Harry walked over to him, his hands tucked into his pockets as he wandered into the small empty sitting room, that was on the first floor, just next to the library, the boy looked around curiously, almost as if he hadn't seen this room before, he then looked to his godfather and smiled the same sparkly smile that Sirius had seen for these past few weeks now.
"How are you finding it here?" Sirius asked as the boy walked further in.
Harry shrugged. "Dusty and old, but I suppose it's alright." He joked, a smile playing at his lips.
Padfoot laughed and patted the boys back. "Your certainly have your mothers sass."
The boy grinned and looked to a painting that sat neatly above a small writing desk, it was of a certain recognisable woman, sitting in the library of Grimmauld, her lavender dress fanned out around her from her seat on the floor, her hair was messily bundled up spilling out various curls. The woman's green eyes stared down at a book that rested on her lap, her fingers softly flicking through the pages, oblivious to the boy staring at her. It was of course, Adelaide... The only painting in the house that didn't seem to have any ware or fade, in fact it was rather new.
"Ah, don't tell her I have that." Sirius quickly said looking to the painting, a familiar sparkle in his eye. "She hated the thought of having a painting of herself."
Harry nodded. "I wont, where is she anyway?" He asked, looking to his godfather who now sat comfortably in his usual chair.
"Out with Remus and Molly, gathering supplies and food." Sirius replied watching as Harry walked over and took a seat beside him.
The boy looked to the painting one last time before turning his attention to his godfather. "I'm happy you have someone to look after you, old man." He joked.
Sirius narrowed his eyes before chuckling. "Thirties is hardly old Harry, you'll be this age one day."
The boy shuddered. "I dread to think of it." He retorted.
Padfoot laughed, a laugh that everyone had come used to hearing after Harry arrived, he was so much more jollier now, much more full of life, it was clear that Harry's stay had brought out the best in him.
"Do you like Adelaide?" The man suddenly asked.
Harry nodded. "Sure, she's nice." He smiled.
Sirius relaxed a little more. "Good." He smiled. "I'm glad your both getting along."
"Your worried." Harry quickly said, noting the look on his godfathers face.
The animagus looked to his godson, then slowly nodded. "Harry." He sat forward a little. "Do you still want to live with me and Adelaide?"
"Of course I do!" Harry smiled.
Sirius sigh in relief and sat back. "Wonderful, I was worried that you didn't want to anymore."
The boy snorted slightly. "Don't be silly." He mumbled "Why would you even think that?"
"I'm not really the best role model Harry, I hope you know that."
Harry shrugged. "The Dursley's aren't good role models, yet I haven't turned out like them." He explained "Sirius, your the only family I have left, I don't care what role model you are, I'm not going back on this, I want to live here."
Sirius smiled and leaned forward, resting his palm on the boys shoulder, squeezing slightly, he sat back and placed one leg over the other. "Thank you Harry."
The boy smiled and sat back. "Besides, I was promised a travel around the world."
The ex convict nodded. "Ah yes, well you'll be glad to know that, that is still on, as promised." He smiled.
Harry grinned and looked back to the painting, tapping his fingers on the chair slightly as he thought about the adventure he would soon go on, no more worrying about the Dursleys, no more abuse and no more sadness, he would finally be with Sirius in a home he felt comfortable in. Harry smiled to himself and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the peace while he could, no doubt Hermione would soon be pestering him about homework, she had done a lot to make sure that he and Sirius had time together before he left but as the time for him to leave was growing closer he knew that she would be making sure all of his assignments were done.
She was a good friend.
"Are you excited for your new term?" Sirius asked, catching Harry's attention.
The boy nodded. "Yea, I mean, I'm not excited to see Snape but I suppose all good things have a catch." He shrugged.
Chucking, the animagus shook his head. "You have nothing to worry about with him."
"I don't know, the impression he made on me is that he is a death eater."
"Wouldn't surprise me."
Harry looked to his godfather rather surprised. "Do you really think he could be?" He asked.
Sirius went to answer but seeing the worry in his godsons eyes made him re-think what he was going to say "I..doubt it but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your wits about you."
"I still don't understand why he has to be an ass." Harry muttered.
"Things..Change people..."
The two went silent for a moment, the animagus stared off, thinking back to his childhood and the way he behaved, it was wrong, he knew that but he couldn't change what he did, he was an ass and he would be lying if he said that he had changed. James grew out of his behaviour, he became a sensible man and Sirius became a rebel, before Azkahban he was different, he would travel a lot on his bike, journey around but he would also drink a lot, find himself sleeping in others beds, spending the night with people he picked up at a bar.
James settled and he roamed.
The drinking stopped and sleeping around became tiresome, all he longed for was to be free, he planned to travel the world, find who he is but that was taken from him, as was his friend...
Sirius looked down to the wooden floor then slowly moved his eyes up to the painting of Adelaide, what she saw in him he would never know, in this trying time he never even considered finding love. Yet, here it was, staring him straight in the face. The past was gone and the future was here, he had responsibility, he was going to protect Harry as James and Lilly would have wanted, he may not be the best role model but he was all Harry had left, he would do his best to help the boy.
"I should go get my homework done." Harry reluctantly spoke, not willing to leave his godfather.
Sirius nodded. "We have a few days together yet, dont sound so blue." He smiled.
The boy nodded and jumped up from his seat. "See you in a bit." He waved before leaving the room.
The animagus watched him leave with a smile and stood up himself, not too soon after, he wandered to the door and walked out making sure to close up the room behind him, as he turned to go downstairs, the sound of the front door swinging open and bustle of people with hushed voices soon filled his ears. The animagus grinned as he heard Adelaide's voice cutting through the others, he quickly dashed down the stairs to the hall where he met eyes with his lover, a smile spreading on his lips as he finally saw her, they had been gone since the early hours of this morning, so quite a few hours had passed, not to mention waking up to an empty bed.
"Hello love!" Adelaide beamed, following Remus and Molly to the kitchen so she could place down her heavy baskets.
Sirius followed. "Hello, my love." He grinned, catching up to her.
The woman raised a brow and placed down her basket, looking over the animagus. "Your in an oddly ecstatic mood." She smirked.
"That's because your home." He replied wrapping his arm around her waist. "And I had a wonderful conversation with Harry."
Adelaide began to rummage through the basket. "Oh? What happened?" She asked.
The animagus ran his eyes over the various groceries. "He cant wait to go on holiday with us and move in."
"Hmm, well the quicker he is away from the Dursleys the better, If I had a say in things he would have moved in already." She muttered. "But im glad he is excited."
Sirius rest his chin on her shoulder, his brow raising as she slipped some packages out from the basket and hid them underneath a few loose vegetables and fruits, he tried to peer through the thin brown packaging but to no avail, he jabbed his finger toward the wrapped items.
"What are those?" He asked.
A smile twitched at the woman's lips. "I brought a gift for Harry before he leaves for Hogwarts, oh and the other one is a surprise for you later." She replied lowly before pecking his cheek.
"What are you up to?" Sirius growled lowly with a slight smirk as she sauntered over to the cupboards.
Adelaide gave him a slight wink, her arms where full of various spices and boxed foods, she quickly put them away and walked back over to the man, slipping her arms over his shoulders, her lips coming to meet his for a moment before quickly pulling away, he slipped his arms around her waist.
"How is Harry?" She asked softly.
"Sad he's going to school but otherwise excited to be here." He replied. "What did you get him?" He asked.
Adelaide lifted the bigger package from under it's hiding spot and placed it beside him. "A kit for broom care and a book on quidditch tactics, it may not be perfect but I thought he might like it." She smiled.
Sirius looked to the package and grinned slightly. "I'm sure he will love it."
The two shared a quick kiss then pulled away, making their way through the groceries on the table, making sure everything was tidy before Molly came in to start making dinner with Adelaide, it was almost routeen now, since everyone had arrived at Grimmauld there had been barely any time to Adelaide and Sirius to share. They where either to exhausted or to busy, with the Orders meetings or keeping track of the home and spending time with guests.
Not that Sirius was complaining.
The home was a bustle now, filled with laughter and noise, it was the best thing to happen to this home and soon enough with the Hogwarts term starting the noise would die down, that was something that Sirius was dreading. The silence of the home once again, the isolation he would feel would come creeping back in and he was far from excited...But he knew it would come to an end soon enough.
At least he and Adelaide would get some time together...
"So are you going to spoil this surprise for later then?" Sirius asked looking to Adelaide, who began to put some vegetable's into a basket.
The woman smirked a little. "Well, you can peak if you want." She shrugged. "I'm not going to stop you..."
Sirius walked over to the package and gently unwrapped it, his eyes coming over a rather skimpy looking nightgown, he shot a glance over to his lover and raised a brow a smirk forming on his lips as she glanced over, a blush on her cheeks.
"Why Ms Pip, are you trying to seduce me?" He asked.
Adelaide smiled and walked over to him, taking the package from his hands she pecked his cheek. "Maybe, I guess you will just have to find out.." She hummed before drifting from the room to place away the package.
Sirius stared after her, a smirk on his lips as he heard her giggle echo from the hallway, it was times like this he wished that the home was a little less busy...
