That afternoon, when he came back home looking like the cat who ate the canary (along with the canary's family and possibly their friends too), Harry wondered how his godfather ever got away with playing pranks when he was at Hogwarts because he seemed to have a terrible poker face. Ignoring his godson's curious looks, Sirius told Molly not to cook dinner that night, that he had a surprise and was inviting everyone.
"I don't think this is only about Winky, Harry. I think he has another surprise that concerns us as well." Rose whispered to her brother.
"You might be right." Harry nodded.
Deciding that worrying about it would be useless, Harry went to play with Ron, Fred and George while Rose and Ginny went to play with Serenity and garden gnomes. Serenity seemed to love chasing after the gnomes and it amused greatly the girls to watch her do so. Molly was also very happy for Serenity's new hobby because it cleaned her garden of these creatures she hated.
.
At the end of the afternoon, Sirius told them to get ready and that Arthur would join them later, he knew where to meet them. He had apparently met him during the afternoon.
"What is all of this about, Sirius?" Rose asked him.
"You'll see." The animagus replied.
They walked for about 30 minutes through a little street and some forest before they arrived in front of a large house, surrounded by a large yard.
"It's our new house! It's direct and walking distance from the Weasley's! There's even a swimming pool in the back yard. An old couple of muggles sold it because they were too old to keep it in shape and they wanted to move in a larger city. This afternoon I did the last of the paperwork, we connected it to the chimney network and Dumbledore came along to place strong protections around it. It's our new home! Remus didn't agree but I've decided to call it 'The Marauder's lair'. As a joke, he insisted on adding a dog house labeled Padfoot but that's okay, maybe we'll get a real dog at some point, who knows." Sirius told them happily.
"That's great!" Everyone exclaimed and rushed inside to see how it was.
They all especially liked the fact that it was within walking distance from the Weasley's house. They'd be able to visit each other's regularly. It was also surprisingly easy to go from one house to the other. No need to turn too many times, just one simple way to follow, and a large bush in the woods, that Sirius had enchanted to block the way and to let you through only if you knew where you were going the other way.
On the first floor, there was a kitchen, a small bathroom, a living room with a large Tv and Stereo that seemed brand new had weren't plugged in yet, a dining room, a small library, an office and two large closets. On the second floor there were 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Rose and Harry would each have their own bedrooms and bathroom and there would be a guest bedroom. The third floor held Sirius and Remus's bedrooms and one bathroom along with another guest room. There was also an attic (luckily unhabited like Ron made they noticed), a garage (large enough to fit their car along with Sirius' old motorcycle inside) and a basement which covered the entire surface of the house.
"They sold it fully furnished, I only changed a few things this afternoon. Of course some things are still in boxes but it will be quickly sorted over the next few days." Sirius told them.
"And who did the cooking while you were doing all of this? I could have done it, you know, I would have been more than happy to help." Molly told him nicely while they made their way to the back yard where a large table and enough chairs for everyone had been set.
Remus and Arthur were standing along with Bill near a lit barbecue.
"I know you would have, Molly, but that's a surprise for later. First, we finish the tour with the yard." Sirius insisted and he showed them the yard.
There was an apple tree, a pear tree, a raspberry bush and a garden with strawberries, tomatoes and other vegetables that the couple had left behind and that Remus seemed eager to take care of.
There was also a shed filled with garden tool where Harry and Rose would be able to store their brooms when they weren't in school. Of course so far Rose didn't own a broom and when Sirius offered the buy her one, she told him that it wasn't a hurry, she didn't like flying much and didn't play Quidditch.
"We'll have to go shopping this week to buy you two more clothes and stuffs to fill your bedrooms. Maybe set a great special space for your birds. And you'll chose the wallpaper you want for your bedrooms." Sirius told Rose and Harry.
Once they had seen everything, they went to the table where Remus had prepared drinks for everyone. Dumbledore and a few other members of the Order that they had seen were present like Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley and Tonks. Apparently, they had all helped to set the protections so that they would be able to move in faster.
Sirius had informed Harry and Rose that Tonks was actually his cousin's daughter, though they hadn't met before the order meetings. He was now reconnecting with her mother, the only cousin of his he was willing to spend any time with because she, too, had been cast out of their family. She had married a muggle born and her family hadn't liked that choice much.
"Now that everyone has seen the house and has a drink in hand, I have something else to announce." Sirius declared.
"Are you about to tell us that you're going to accept the post of Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts and make us the happiest students ever?" George asked him eagerly.
"Okay, so I have two things to announce." Sirius nodded, seconds before cheers erupted among the teenagers.
"Though I've promise to help him prepare before that happens." Remus promised.
"Molly, you've been extremely nice to us since I was freed and before that, you've been like a second family to Harry. After everything you've done for him, and for us, we wanted to do something for you and the opportunity presented itself this morning. You asked who cooked this meal, well, since Winky hated being a free elf and wanted to belong to a family, we've decided to link her to a family. Now, I already have a house elf and wasn't interested in having another so… Harry, Rose and I decided to help Winky while providing you with the helping hand you deserve. Molly, Winky is now your family's house elf." Sirius declared, bringing tears to Molly's eyes as the female house elf popped in front of the woman and bowed with a nice smile.
"You didn't have to do this, I was happy to help." Molly replied in a small voice and tears in her eyes.
"We know, this is why you deserved some help." Sirius insisted.
"I haven't forgotten that you were the one who told me how to cross the barrier to get to the train that first time, you were nice to me before you even knew who I was, and I overheard, later once Fred and George found out who i was, you ordered them not to ask me questions about that night, not to make me feel bad... I'll always remember this. The kindness you've shown me, it was a first for me. You also sent me my first Christmas gift. You deserve this and more." Harry told the nice woman who hugged him tightly.
"Now easy mom, if you kill Harry, You Know Who will win." Bill joked to make his mother release harry, which she did, before she attacked Sirius in one of her tight hugs.
"What can I do for you Mistress Weasley?" Winky asked the red haired woman once she had calmed down.
"You want to get started right away? You don't want to rest or take the time to settle?" Molly asked Winky who shook her head.
"Oh no Mistress Weasley, I'm ready now, anything you need." She assured her new owner.
"Oh, I… Maybe you could get started on the laundry back home?" Molly asked shyly the elf who smiled, nodded and popped away.
"Now where will she sleep? We can't let her sleep in the attic with the Ghoul, it would just be mean to her." Ron frowned.
"Sirius warned me after he did the paperwork, we'll build her a little room by enlarging the kitchen a bit. Bill and I have thought about this." Arthur assured his son.
The rest of the evening went well and, before everyone left, Sirius made sure the Weasley would join him at his mother's house on the next day to help clean it and sort through dangerous objects. Fred and George seemed especially eager to help Sirius, which amused their parents who had never seem them clean anything willingly, ever.
Did you like it?
Would you have named the house differently?
Lorelei Candice Black