CW: school, misinformation in media, trains, discussion of adoption
:SIXTY-SEVEN:
A short few days later, Remus and Sirius were sending Harry off to school. It was hard, as always, to say goodbye. They held him close, mussing up his hair and joking around before they sent him off into the train compartment.
"You know," Remus said, holding hands with Sirius. "It's odd that Dumbledore hasn't contacted us. Don't you think?"
"Don't jinx it!" Sirius laughed.
"He's probably just very busy." Mr. Weasley added, overhearing their conversation. "I didn't tell you before because it's technically supposed to be a surprise and I knew you couldn't keep it from Harry if I told you earlier."
Sirius gasped in mock-offense, but Remus interrupted him before he could say anything.
"What is it?" He asked excitedly.
"Well," Mr. Weasley grinned. "Hogwarts is going to be hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year!"
Sirius' jaw dropped, momentarily speechless.
"Oh!" Remus nodded. "That makes sense why Dumbledore wouldn't have contacted us then. He'll be too busy catering to the other school's head professors."
"Never mind that!" Sirius waved it off. "What are the tasks going to be? This is brilliant!"
Mr. Weasley shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly. They're still working out some of the permits and details."
"Can we go watch?" Sirius grinned brightly. "That'd be a real treat, wouldn't it, Remus?"
"I dunno," Remus shrugged. "Sounds brilliant, but I imagine they're not going to be very fun for the champions."
"Well," Mr. Weasley added hurriedly. "They're adding more precautions too. And you can't enter unless you're of age either."
"Oh," Sirius guffawed. "Fred and George are going to hate hearing that."
"I'm glad they did that, honestly." Mrs. Weasley fussed with her shawl. "I don't care how many precautions they come up with - it'll still be dangerous."
"Right, well." Remus put his hands in his pockets. "Cup of tea then?"
"Not for me," Mr. Weasley sighed. "I've got to get back to the Ministry."
He kissed Molly on the cheek, then waved to them all. "I'll see you all at the first task!"
Months had passed, and Remus and Sirius were busily preparing to go to the first task. Mr. Weasley couldn't make it, but Molly insisted that they join her. Their son, Charlie Weasley, was one of the dragon-handlers and got them in to see the event personally. Sirius was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement.
"It's gonna be brilliant!" He exclaimed, bundling up to leave.
"Yes," Remus replied, bemused. "I'm excited too. Plus, we'll get to see Harry again."
"The twins were pissed, just like I thought they'd be." Sirius laughed. "You should have seen the letter they wrote me about it!"
They'd tried to age themselves with a potion, but it didn't work. Even though Sirius said he'd be happy to help finance their joke shop, the twins were still trying to get funds on their own. He thought it was silly, but he also understood that they wanted to stand on their own.
Remus and Sirius popped through the Floo network to the Burrow, where Mrs. Weasley was waiting with the car. She offered to drive, but Remus insisted on driving so she could relax.
"You'll wear yourself out, Molly!" Sirius laughed, helping her into the car.
She laughed, swatting him on the arm. "I packed some food for the journey - I hope you like sandwiches more than my boys."
"I love all your cooking!" Remus smiled from the driver's seat. "Let's head to the station then."
They made it for the eleven o' clock train, then relaxed during the ride. Remus got pumpkin juice and some chips to go with their sandwiches, while Sirius insisted on getting them each a pumpkin pastie. It was a pleasant trip, one where they laughed and talked. Mrs. Weasley had also brought her knitting along, so one set of needles was busy magically knitting a sweater, while Mrs. Weasley carefully knitted a letter on another sweater.
"The details are so easy to get wrong." She said conversationally. "So I do them by hand instead."
Harry and the Weasley children had gotten permission to meet them all at the train station, so they were waiting for them in Hogsmeade. Ginny was the first to run forward, smiling brightly as she hugged her mother.
"Hullo." Harry said, smiling as he hugged Remus and Sirius close.
"Hey, kiddo." Sirius ruffled his hair. "Miss us?"
"Sure." Harry said sarcastically, attempting to fix his hair.
"That's the spirit." Remus smirked. "Let's head up to the castle, shall we?"
They all began walking back, talking excitedly to each other.
"I can't believe you won't tell us what the first task will be!" Ron whined at his mother, who only smiled back.
"It would ruin the surprise, Ron!" Sirius laughed. "You'll love it though, all of you."
"I wanted to talk to you, actually." Harry murmured quietly while they walked. "You know that writer for the Daily Prophet? She came by the school to write about the tournament, and then tried to get me alone for an interview."
Remus' brow furrowed. "Then what happened?"
"Well, I walked away like you taught me." Harry explained. "But I just wanted to let you know since she'll probably be here too."
"Right." Sirius smirked brightly. "This will be fun, eh?"
"Sirius," Remus said seriously. "We don't need any media attention. Especially with the tournament going on, the news cycle should be reporting on the champions and international cooperation."
"Doesn't mean I can't take the mickey out of her if she gets too close." Sirius winked at Harry conspiratorially.
They had arrived at the castle, where the others were all waiting to greet the adults. Hermione smiled brightly at Remus, then went to greet Mrs. Weasley. Luna and Neville followed, chatting with Remus and Sirius as they walked into the Great Hall.
They took seats together at the Gryffindor table, where Sirius looked around in interest.
"You're right, Harry," Sirius nodded. "It does look strange with the red and blue uniforms mixed in with the black."
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "But they're really quite interesting to talk to so far. I wish we had more time together though outside meals - they have classes separately."
"That is interesting." Remus nodded. "It makes sense though, wizarding schools have always been secretive."
Hermione nodded excitedly, continuing the conversation about other wizarding schools with Remus. When she got to the other school's champions though, she became more defensive.
"Krum has turned all the girls' heads." She scoffed. "And Delacour has been just rude since she got here."
Remus looked critically at Hermione. "How so?"
"Well," She pressed on. "She's constantly making comments about Hogwarts and how it's not good enough for her. And all of the boys just like her because she's pretty."
"Now, Hermione," Remus shook his head. "I understand being proud of your school, but I highly doubt the Goblet of Fire chose Ms. Delacour because of her appearance."
Hermione looked like she was about to interrupt, but Remus continued.
"She cannot change her appearance anymore than anyone else can, Hermione." He smiled kindly at her. "I would suggest you try getting to know her a little better, before making a judgement call like that."
Hermione huffed, but dropped the subject in favor of eating pudding.
After supper, the three adults said their goodbyes. They had to head to Hogsmeade before they lost their reserved rooms, as so many people were coming to see the task the next day.
"We'll be in the stands waiting for you." Remus said, hugging Harry one more time before they left. "Get some rest, okay?"
Harry smirked, but hugged Remus again before they left.
"I dunno if I'm going to be able to sleep, personally." Sirius grinned, practically bouncing as they walked to Hogsmeade together. "Fancy a butterbeer before we turn in?"
"None for me," Mrs. Weasley laughed. "It'll be a mad house in the bar - I'm just going to head off to bed."
"Alright," Remus smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow morning, Molly."
He turned to Sirius. "Let's just get them to go though, alright? Like she said, the bar's going to be packed tonight."
Sirius shrugged, holding the door open for them all as they entered the bar. It was packed, just as Molly and Remus had predicted. Wizards, witches, and all kinds of magical creatures filled the space, which meant they had to push their way up to the front to get their room keys.
"Sirius!" Madam Rosmerta laughed. "Been wondering when you lot would turn up!"
She handed them their keys, then took Sirius' order.
"It'll be a minute." Rosmerta yelled over the noise. "That alright?"
Sirius nodded, moving off to the side with Remus. Mrs. Weasley bustled off to her room, looking so small amongst the crowd. They made sure to watch until she'd made it safely up the stairs so she wouldn't be knocked over by anyone, which is how they didn't notice anyone approaching them. A manicured-hand tapped on Sirius' shoulder, drawing their attention to a rather squat woman with carefully-constructed curly hair.
"Hello," She smiled coyly. "My name is Rita Skeeter."
"I was wondering," She continued before either of them could speak. "If I could have an interview with you both? On what it's like to raise Harry Potter."
Considering how loud the pub was, the pair of them had no problem hearing the foul reporter's question. Remus felt his blood run cold, while Sirius' blood began to boil under the surface. This moment was one they had been preparing for, but now that it was here they still felt blindsided.
"No comment." Sirius replied firmly. "Excuse us."
The both of them left the bar, forgetting about the butterbeers in the process. Interacting with the media was not something they were going to do, not until they knew with a hundred percent certainty that Harry could not be taken from them.
"Sirius.." Remus began once they were safely in their room.
"Don't start, Remus." Sirius grit his teeth together. "We have a plan - it'll just need to be completed a little faster."
"But if we just ask him -"
"I'm not asking Dumbledore!" Sirius yelled. "I'm not asking him for a bloody knut, let alone help with this!"
"Sirius!" Remus yelled back, stopping Sirius immediately.
"Sirius, our pride is not as important as this." He continued once he had Sirius' attention. "If we get Dumbledore's signature on the paperwork, our claim on Harry will be magically binding as well as the muggle paperwork we've been working through at home."
"But Remus - it's Dumbledore." Sirius muttered.
"I know, Sirius." Remus came over, rubbing Sirius' shoulders. "I know."
There was a pause, where they just looked at each other, a thousand conversations replaying in their minds. There was absolutely no doubt that, now that Rita Skeeter was onto them, there would be a media storm. And, where Harry was involved, there really wasn't another choice.
"Right," Sirius said finally. "Well, we'd better turn in early then. We've got to see Dumbledore first thing tomorrow if we want to beat the papers."
Notes:
Well, we're now in a race for time. Rita's going to go nuts with Remus and Sirius raising Harry in the papers. And we're going to talk about it, so if tackling the Ministry and the media is something that makes you uncomfortable, then I wouldn't recommend reading the next couple of chapters.
Happy Reading!