Morning saw a repentant Sirius in the kitchen, trying to scrounge up breakfast. What said "I'm sorry, I'm an ass, but I still won't get along with Severus Snape?" "Maybe waffles" he muttered to himself, and then laughed at his Kreacher-like behavior. That made him remember the piece of parchment from Albus that still lingered in his pocket and he settled on something quick – porridge – that would also insure that he tried using the stove before the Weasleys arrived. It was a good thing he did; there were some type of giant, possibly bewitched roaches living in the oven, and none of the gas burners on the range worked properly. After spraying a magical insect repellent that Remus had purchased into the oven, he set to work on the stove. When Remus came into the kitchen an hour later, Sirius had nearly reached a point where he could cook the porridge. He chose not to tell Remus about the roaches. Some things about this house weren't worth passing on.
"Morning," said Remus calmly, and sat down at the table. "I see you're already working on breakfast, so I won't get in the way." Sirius could tell from Remus' demeanor that he had decided to act as though nothing had happened. He knew he should apologize but his pride just wouldn't let him, so he just answered as cheerily as possible. "I had some trouble with the stove so it took a while, but it'll be done quite quickly now that I can get it going. I figured Molly will want the stove in working condition. We're nearly out of food, the oats for the porridge were one of the only breakfast options. Do you think Arthur and Molly will be bringing food?" "Another thing I should have asked Albus," said Remus tiredly. "After he left I thought of all kinds of questions that I didn't bring up while he was here. Ah well, I can always run out for groceries if needed after they get here tomorrow. Molly will likely have a specific list of what she wants, anyways."
Once breakfast had been eaten, Sirius called Kreacher. The elf presented himself and bowed to Sirius. "Kreacher, we're going to be living here for a while and we need to set some rules for what you are to do and not do while we're here. And after, too. Understand?" The elf gave Sirius a filthy look as he replied "yes Master, whatever Master says." He forewent the mumbling this time, maybe sensing Sirius' short fuse regarding him. "Kreacher, there will be people coming and going from this house. They will exchange information with other members of the group we belong to. While you are in this house, you are not to speak of any of that information with any other living creature, no matter what you hear. I don't care if someone says 'tomorrow I will stab Kreacher in the heart' – you are not to speak a word to anyone, is that clear?" The elf nodded. "Verbally please." "Yes Master Sirius." "Fantastic," said Sirius, "let's move on. You are to stay within the walls of this house. You are not allowed to leave." He paused. What if the house was on fire and Kreacher was burned alive, or if Albus needed him to conduct a task? "There are three people who may give you permission to leave. You must be physically in the same room with them, and they must verbally tell you to leave. Those people are myself, Remus here, and Albus Dumbledore. Do you understand that too?" Kreacher nodded. "Yes Master." Sirius looked to Remus. "Does that cover it?" "I think so," said Remus. You can always add on if you need to. "Alright," said Sirius, "Kreacher, why don't you spend a few days cleaning the attic?" He needed the elf anywhere but near him. Kreacher bowed deeply and instead of vanishing, trudged from the room so that he could let Sirius and Remus know what he truly thought of the new orders. "Master is an insolent boy just as Mistress always said, he thinks he can tell Kreacher what to do, Kreacher might have to obey but he does not belong to Master Sirius, oh no, the boy is a traitor and a stain on the noble name of Black…" Kreacher's voice faded as he climbed the stairs up out of the kitchen. Remus looked at Sirius with a small smile. "Well my friend, now that you've ruined a house elf's life, why don't we try to get Ron's room finished up today?" Sirius pulled his anger at the elf under control with some effort and nodded wordlessly.
They had mostly finished Ron's room by supper that night; the next morning they put the final touches on it, trying to remove the blank portrait from the wall and failing and then moving in the mattresses and bedclothes. Sirius wasn't fond of the idea of a random portrait in his godson's room, but Remus assured him that if the inhabitant ever showed up they could call Albus in to try and remove it. They realized while having this discussion that the portrait of Mrs. Black in the hallway by the front door had been quiet since the very first day they had arrived. "I wonder if a portrait can die," said Sirius. "No Padfoot, it can't. For some reason we just haven't woken her up, and we – you – haven't been that quiet really." Sirius turned on Remus, ready with some poison words, and realized he had been joking. "Very funny Moony, oh yes." As they came down the stairs from Ron's room on the third floor, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Black's portrait began to scream. They exchanged a look of surprise and ran down to silence it; Remus cast a freezing charm and they tugged the thick drapes hanging on either side of the portrait back over it again. "Now I'm quite curious," said Remus, but there was no further time for discussing the strange painting. They hurried down the last flight of steps to the door; through the peephole they could see Arthur's face, looking quite worried and very close to the door.
Remus swung it open as Sirius took a few steps back. He had never met these people in person before, besides seeing Molly quite briefly a few weeks ago after the Triwizard Tournament. It was odd that the most he knew of the Weasleys was from seeing their youngest son, often in strange places like the mountains around Hogsmeade and the Shrieking Shack. He was also quite aware of his status as a convicted murderer and wasn't sure how much they had all been told of such things.
Remus, however, had no reservations. "Molly, Arthur, lovely to see you both! Please come in." He stepped back to allow enough room for them to come inside; Fred, Ron, George, and then Ginny all followed. Fred and George were as Sirius had assumed; taller than Ron, lanky, red haired, and already grinning at the bizarre furnishings of the house. "Oooh Ron, look, I hope there's a snake like that in your bedroom," said one of the twins, indicating a viper, long dead, on display in a glass box. Ron, looking a little pale at having his home life uprooted to live in a place like this, only said "shut up Fred" and stuck close to his mother. Ginny – fourteen if Sirius remembered correctly – was nearly as tall as Ron and clearly braver. Her hair hung loose down her back and she appeared to be dressed in old clothes from her many brothers, but her eyes were clear and confident as she took everything in. Molly had given Remus a hug; Arthur, Fred and George shook his hand, and Ron and Ginny waved hello from the back, both giving him big grins. He was clearly a Weasley favorite. Now attention turned to Sirius, standing out of the way in a corner.
He stepped forward and Remus cleared his throat "ah – Molly, Arthur, have you met Sirius before?" Arthur shook his head but moved forward with a smile. "Arthur Weasley, a pleasure to meet you Sirius." He studied Sirius's face for a second and seemed to read the reticence there. "I hope you realize, Sirius – is it alright if I call you by your given name?" Sirius nodded. "Sirius – Dumbledore has filled us in on your situation. You don't have to go through any of it again. Our family stands behind you, and we're eager to get to know you better. Although we do enjoy the comforts of our own home, I think it will also be quite nice to give you a little company. Being alone all of those years can't have been a picnic." Sirius felt his eyes grow hot and took a deep breath. The words felt like exactly what he had needed to hear. Arthur didn't let the silence linger long enough to make him feel as though he needed to respond; he stepped aside and introduced "my wife Molly – I think you met briefly?" Molly shook his hand but Sirius could tell that she had probably heard stories of the Marauders at some point; he didn't read the same openness in her face that was visible in Arthur's. Fred and George came forward next; each wrung his hand and clapped him on the arm. The Marauders Map, he now realized, had been an invaluable tool; he was an idol in their eyes. Ron smiled at him and said "how are you, Sirius?" which made the twins stare at him as though he were their ticket to revolutionized troublemaking. Ginny came forward to shake his hand and simply said "it's good to finally meet you, Sirius." Sirius realized that these were some of the best people he could hope to share the house with and felt even worse for the things he had said yesterday.
They toured the house briefly and Remus showed Molly all the work they had accomplished so far. The whole family was stunned by the state of the house, and Molly felt terrible that Sirius and Remus had done all the work for them. "These rooms are so beautiful, Remus, what you must have gone through!" Sirius had never thought of the house as beautiful before, but realized Molly was mainly saying it so that both Sirius and Remus felt appreciated and valued, and for that he was extremely grateful. As they reached the children's rooms Arthur pulled their trunks out of his pockets and returned them to normal size, one by one. "Alright, now I have a not so pleasant surprise," said Remus, once the children were all unpacking and Molly and Arthur's belongings were also in their room. He led the way to the kitchen. Molly made no noise as she surveyed the area, but he could see the worry in her eyes. She finally looked up and smiled at Remus. "We'll make it work, we always do. Arthur, could you help me in here for the rest of the day?" Sirius cut in "all of us can work on it Molly, and I worked on the stove this morning – the oven is ready to use and at least one of the burners on the range works." "Wonderful!" she said; she wasn't quite looking him in the eye but had become much warmer towards him as they had toured the house.
Sirius, Remus, Molly and Arthur worked on the kitchen for the rest of the day. As the Weasley children finished unpacking their belongings they came down and began helping to; at one point, Molly and Arthur went up to unpack their things and left all four children with Sirius and Remus, and that was when Sirius realized that having them in the house might be a very good thing. Fred and George, although they made jokes a mile a minute, were very helpful. Ron got bored, but made everyone a cup of tea when he did, which was most welcome. And Ginny was a right powerhouse; she helped move furniture better than Ron did, wasn't squeamish at all about the disgusting things they found in the kitchen like her brothers were, and never complained, even though she had to clean the muggle way (as Fred and George reminded her and Ron both about once a minute). By the end of the afternoon the table was free of mold; it would need to be refinished at some point, but not now. The chairs all had four legs and could hold the weight of a human again; the refrigerator was clean and ready to use, as were about half of the countertops and cabinets. Arthur and Molly had returned to finish helping, and now Molly took from her pocket all the food that had been at the Burrow and returned it to its normal size. As the others put everything away she cooked what turned out to be the most delicious supper Sirius had eaten in about fifteen years. There was a massive roast, complete with potatoes, carrots and peas; fresh bread (baked in the roach oven, his mind couldn't help but remind him); and a half of a beautiful treacle tart for dessert, left over from a previous supper at the Burrow. He could not remember the last time he had access to real food, cooked at home, although he was sure Molly's cooking was also better than average. He ate so much that Remus finally stopped him, albeit very gently. Ginny was laughing at him across the table, and Sirius smiled at her. Molly looked a little disapproving that her daughter was getting along with him, but Sirius couldn't be bothered. Arthur sent Ginny and Ron to bed at ten, and the twins sat up with them a while before Molly gave them a look around eleven and they too headed upstairs. Remus cleared the table and set the dishes to cleaning themselves with a few flicks of his wand, and not long after they all headed to bed. Sirius felt rather relieved; all of the conversation had been light and topical and hadn't really required him to say much, revolving around the children's grades in school and upcoming O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. The children largely left him alone, and Molly and Arthur hadn't required his input on anything either. Nothing much had been said regarding his status as a previous prisoner, Remus's condition, or the impending war. He knew the conversations couldn't be avoided forever, but having a night of new company and easy talk had been lovely.