Sirius took the train back to London along with the students, as extra security in case of an attack and he spent the first hour of the ride hiding from girls who had just graduated and wanted a chance with him, thinking that now that they had graduated and that he wasn't their teachers anymore, they stood a chance with him. The fact that he was still old enough to be their father (a young father but still...), didn't seem to disturb any of them. Neither did the fact that he now had a white strand of hair, very visible, unable to be hidden.
Sirius had always loved his hair, been a bit obsessed with them but this, somehow, he was able to accept. It made him look wiser, he thought. Obviously the girls thought it made him look even better because some of them were more decided than ever to get a moment alone with him. Would they stop if he found someone and was openly dating another woman?
Who could he date?
Every woman he had liked before going to Azkaban had died in the war or married someone else. All he knew now was the Order members or his colleagues, and none of them appealed to him. He didn't feel like taking a lover for one night stands anymore, if he was going to bring someone into his life, it needed to be someone that would be with him for the long haul, someone that could be trusted... He was responsible for Harry and Rose, and he couldn't bring just anyone into their lives. Sirius certainly didn't want to be with one of his old students, the age difference was too big.
After the first hour, he rushed in Harry's compartment to hide from a particularly persistant one and his godson offered to lend him the invisibility cloak, which Sirius happily agreed to use. He was finally able to patrol without being seen by the girls who seemed to be on a "Sirius Black hunt". A couple of times he had to hide into another compartment to avoid bumping into those girls on a Sirius hunt but it was better than nothing.
"You're alright Professor Black?" Neville asked him.
"Go ahead and call me Sirius when we're not in class anymore. I'm fine, but next year, I'm taking polyjuice potion for the train ride." Sirius replied before he went in the corridor once more.
Rose was in a compartment with Fred, George, Angelina, who was presently dating George, and Lee, who had recently broken up with his own girlfriend. Harry was in another with Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna. Hermione was in another compartment with Draco and a few of his "friends" which seemed to grow to accept her as one of them, even though she was muggle born.
Of course they still went from one compartment to the other to talk but Rose enjoyed the time with Fred, knowing that the next 2 years would be hard away from him and that even this summer, he'd be pretty busy with his shop, though she had offered to work with them for the summer and so she had gotten a part time job at the store. This way she'd get to spend some time with him and still have free time on the side. She'd also get to spend time with Remus, who was also working for the twins.
Once they arrived in London, they were greeted by Remus and Tonks, who escorted them all to Grimault Place where they took the Chimney to the Burrow. There, they'd have dinner all together before Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Harry and Rose flooed back home.
Hermione went home to her parents, promising to come for a few days around Harry and Rose's birthday. She had plans for the summer, in July she was going to spend some time with cousins of hers in the south of the country and, in August, another cousin of hers was coming over and was planning on taking Hermione out for lots of fun in London.
Draco was greeted by his mother, who stood by the Parkinsons, the Goyles and the Crabbes. Discreetly, she nodded to Sirius, letting him know that she was ready to follow her son, that she was willing to make an effort to change for the well being of her son. She couldn't do more at the moment, being surrounded by Death-Eaters.
There, in front of everyone, Draco introduced Hermione to his mother. Even though the mother knew that they were just pretending, it worked well with his pretense, introducing Hermione to his mother before she left for the summer was something that would have been expected, no matter who his girlfriend was. The other Death Eaters weren't too pleased with the company but they knew that she was useful, she they pretended they were alright with this presence.
"I'll miss you so much... I'll write to you as soon as I get home, Draco!" Hermione promised, knowing that she had to play along for the other Death Eaters around.
"Me too, and I'll try to visit, right Mother?" he nodded, looking at his mother.
"If that's what you wish, of course." Narcissa replied, making it look like she was only going along for her son and the Dark Lord.
Looking around her, Narcissa realized that she and her son had played their parts well because the other Death Eaters around her seemed to believe them.
.
Everyone was at the Burrows, enjoying all together this first dinner of the summer.
"Winky, you really out did yourself tonight, it all looks delicious!" Arthur exclaimed after he tasted the food.
Of course it made the house elf blush.
"Master Arthur is too nice. Winky is happy to serve her family. Winky really loves her family!" She replied quietly before she left to go clean the kitchen.
"Don't you miss cooking Molly?" Remus asked the mother.
"No, we've settled a schedule with Winky, I still get to cook some meals." She smiled.
"Anyway, why don't we start talking about what's important. Moony, where are you and Tonks going to live once you get married? I mean, you know that you're more than welcome at the house, I told you we could make an extension, the land is large enough." Sirius stated.
"We have been talking about this, yes. Remus has made a decision." Tonks replied, urging Remus to speak.
Remus looked at Rose and saw her looking down a bit. As much as she wanted him to be happy, he understood that she didn't want him to leave her.
"I don't really want to move out while Rose and Harry live at the house, but we want our independence, so we've decided to take you on with that extension. We'll stay in my room until the extension is complete. Once Rose and Harry move out and start their own lives, we'll start thinking of getting our own place to live." He replied.
"Perfect! I had a feeling you'd take that option, so I actually bought the surrounding lands. At first it was just a safety measure, but now it's great, we can build another house right next door for the two of you and I even made plans. We can place a corridor that links the two houses, so it'll be like one house. And you won't have to look for your own house later!" Sirius declared happily, making Remus roll his eyes.
"Hagrid has agreed to come and help build while you're on your honeymoon." Arthur added.
"You guys just like making decisions for me, right?" Remus chuckled.
"We just know you, Moony. We knew what arguments you'd use to deny our help, and we knew we'd be able to conter-act them. If not, we'd just throw Rose at you. You can never say no to her." Sirius assured, making everyone laugh and Rose and Remus chuckle.
"So I'm a weapon now?" Rose joked.
"An absolutely gorgeous weapon of mass persuasion." Fred added flirtingly, making everyone chuckle.
"Why do still flirt with Rose all the time? you're together, we get it. No need to flirt, she's yours already." Ron compalined.
"Because our big brother understands that a girl likes to be flirted on ones in a while, even when in a relationship, unlike you." Ginny snapped at Ron, making him blush a deep red.
"Am I at least allowed to participate in the payment of the materials?" Remus asked quickly before the Weasley siblings started arguying even more.
"If you really insist, but I'm taking it as an offence." Sirius replied, making his friend laugh along with him.
"I can't wait! This is going to be great! It's fun to have a big family." Tonks exclaimed.
"Did you have your own place, Tonks?" Ginny asked her.
"No, I stayed with my mother, it was cheaper and this way I didn't have to cook or clean. Dad did build me my own entrance though, for the times I had late shifts. I'm so clumsy, especially at night, that I always ended up waking them up." The future bride replied, making them chuckle.
"Well, Remus loves to cook, so you won't have to cook either." Sirius added.
"Well, unlike you, I can cook." Remus taunted his best friend.
"I can cook!" Sirius complained.
"But is it edible?" Remus asked and Sirius frowned, looking at Harry and Rose to defend him.
"Don't look at me, I'm not taking part in this conversation." Harry replied, raising his hands.
"When you can say nothing nice, don't say anything at all, so I'm not saying anything about this." Rose nodded, making everyone chuckled.
"You can make a great breakfast though!" Harry encouraged, trying to make it up to his godfather.
"Yes, he knows how to poor the milk into the bowl of cereal, and he can make tea and coffee." Remus granted, making everyone laugh harder.
"Maybe Winky can give you cooking lessons for Christmas." Ginny suggested.
"Poor Elf, don't torture her like that, Ginny, she doesn't deserve it." Remus added, making Sirius blush deeped and even Winky chuckled.
The two months of summer should take quite a few chapters with everything that's going to happen. Especially since I just wrote an entire chapter that wasn't planned. Narcissa just did something (chapter 70) and before I knew it, a chapter was done and she was in a... hard... position. It wasn't planned and I have no idea where it came from lol
Review please?
Lorelei Candice Black