To Stitches: I'm sure most people agree with that assessment. The twins are good people by nature and just need to calm just a tad about some of their pranking and think of consequences better. Sirius and Regulus have a rock relationship right now, but it's better than the nonexistent one during the Hogwarts years before, and things will keep progressing for the two of them blow, hope you enjoy!

This chapter has nothing to do with eggs, bunnies, chickens, or even chocolate. I'm really awful at these holiday updates.

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Sirius slammed down on a very sturdy desk, but all he upset was a very old bottle of ink that spilled over his lap and would soon stain the wood if he didn't fix it. Peter felt as if he were being bodily slammed into a bed, but he sent up such a cloud of dust everyone's sneezing and coughing only doubled as they'd been doing it upon arrival.

One peek out the window made this all the more strange, they were back at the Burrow.

"Surely they weren't hanging around Grimmauld Place for so long this home started resembling it," Sirius said in disgust, picking up the now dripping book and siphoning the ink away, though the cover still remained an inky black and bothered him greatly.

"No, I think it's just this room," James corrected quietly as he gazed at the empty closet. He couldn't even imagine Arthur and Molly's distress at their child who'd abandoned them, but he didn't think cleaning his room would be top of the list. He tried to picture it, if Harry had turned out like Malfoy or something and James couldn't be so proud of this future kid of his. The idea was unbearable and he hadn't even convinced Lily to like him yet.

Lily watched his look of honest sympathy, and it took her breath away. She'd never imagined he could hold any kind of emotion except pigheadedness, and here he was, caring about this family's troubles with an unmistakable expression.

When Sirius Black actually read out the chapter title, she startled more in surprise of remembering there were others in the room than such an odd chapter title. It was no wonder they were in Percy's room then, but what did that have to do with Sirius's animagus? His better half, she mentally concluded, as at least he couldn't talk like that, unlike now when he read highly obnoxiously about Harry waking up and writing out a secret letter to him. Not that she'd deny Harry's letter was very clever, certainly no outsider would get it. She just didn't think he should be laughing quite so obnoxiously about Harry's genius.

Peter listened with a grimace as Harry got to the owlery and spotted another of those demon horse things, he'd honestly stopped mentioning seeing the same all their time in the forest by third year as his friends had stopped laughing by then and just rolled their eyes. Sirius had even accused him of this being a stupider running gag than making puns about his own name. The fact that Harry was mentioning it so frequently made him hope he'd figure out what they were, Prongs's kid had a very good track record of that.

Lily smiled as Cho made an unexpected entrance, and when all was said and done, gave Potter the most obvious look one couldn't miss from Pluto. "It's nice some Potters know how to talk to a girl without making an arse of themselves."

"They talked about Quidditch half the time," Potter had the audacity to widen his eyes and look innocent of what she could mean. "I'd love to discuss that with you more Evans, you just never seemed to take to it."

"Surely she meant the part about how she'd defend you from Filch, Prongs," Sirius Black corrected with a hearty snicker. "You can go order as many dung bombs as you like in front of her and she'll be your alibi."

Lily scowled and considered storming into the empty closet behind her and slamming it in their face just to vent as Potter laughed. She turned to face the empty coat hangers regardless, and so when her heart skipped a beat in surprise at Hermione reading out the paper and Sirius Black's real current whereabouts, nobody noticed that she actually winced in concern for the idiot.

'For Harry's benefit,' she mentally corrected herself quickly. If Sirius Black got caught in this future, well, Potter had been more miserable and down-hearted than she ever could have believed back when all that had been going on in third year. If he went back there now, it would only be worse for everyone, including her own kid having whatever parent he could ripped away like that for such a ghastly unjust reason.

She turned back slowly to eye him now, and was fascinated to see him reading the whole thing with his chest puffed up and complete swagger for how foolish he found his godson's worries. He even went into the next article about that Podmore fellow like nothing had happened. She knew that was bravado, he'd been more dejected than Potter during that Azkaban mess, and found it fascinating he chose to play it off and get a rise out of his friends by laughing about it all in the end.

Was that really their answer to everything? It certainly seemed so the longer she watched. They really were a fascinating bunch of idiots. Maybe when they got back she'd steal bits of their hair and study some potions on them to see if-

"Yes!" Regulus whooped in triumph, launching himself onto the bed beside Peter, but now bouncing on it in excitement as his older brother described Harry and Ron skiving off homework for double Quidditch practice. "This is going to be the most fun we've yet heard! I can't wait for the tournament when we get back to ours!"

It was the most undignified thing they'd ever seen him do, probably to ever go on in this room honestly. It had been a choice between this display his mother would kill him for, or finally bursting into tears and trying to hug Sirius again for watching his brother try to keep reading like that. After only a few bounces, he definitely preferred this.

Peter laughed and after a moment got up to jump on the bed with him, spraying them all with dust once more. Being back in this particular room had only reminded him he'd spent so many years here hiding out as Percy's pet, like a curse was on this room and everyone in it, he definitely needed to just not think for a few moments.

Alice laughed and finally stopped rubbing at the back of her hand in worry for that school, of Neville getting a detention as well. Sirius Black nearly fell off the desk laughing at the two, and then decided to jump up there with him and continue reading like a loon. The other two watched with indulgent smiles, and likely would have gone up there with them if there had been room.

Frank and Lily exchanged exasperated looks at the lot of them, but neither could repress a smile through the whole practice even as the Slytherins showed up and tried to make larger arses of themselves than usual.

It wasn't until Percy's letter showed up that Sirius finally slowed, and it wasn't because the springs gave out. He tried to keep reading it and bouncing, but by the end his knees started shaking and he almost fell off and busted his head on the desk.

James caught him, his forehead an inch from the corner, but he stayed slumped in his arms for a few more moments as what he really read sank in. The idiot was the opposite of him, but the exact same as him, leaving his family because he didn't believe the same as them. Now though, even that humongous bighead bothered to reach out to his kid brother and offer the same hand, something Sirius had never actively bothered to try!

James's laugh echoed oddly in the suddenly quiet room as they all waited for Sirius to spring back to his feet and keep going. "What was that your mother said about monkeys on the bed Peter?"

The two had abruptly stopped at Sirius's little fall, Regulus now holding onto the bed frame for support and frowning in concern. When Sirius finally did shake himself and keep going to Ron's reaction, it sounded oddly detached, and he winced with every rip he gave his brother's letter.

This bizarre reaction made sense to no one, how could Sirius be sympathizing with Percy of all people?

Sirius absolutely did not want to explain though while he was still kicking himself in the arse. He spoke of his own interactions with Harry almost all in one breath, and in the end found it oddly accurate as everything was being ripped away once more, that was clearly the only thing he was really good at.