Chapter 12
The next day dawned bright and clear. Boxing Day was always the day Harry and his family visited the graves of his parents. It was the first time Sirius would get to see the place where his best friend was laid to rest. He was very nervous about it and kept fidgeting all morning.
James watched on in sympathy as Sirius nervously paced up and down the living room. He placed a comforting hand on the agitated boy's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "Remember you're not alone. We'll be there with you."
Sirius nodded stiffly and relaxed a little. James' mere presence calmed and reassured him more than any words ever could. He couldn't explain why but he always felt more confident when James was around, like he could take on the world and win as long as James stayed at his side.
Harry and Ginny couldn't side-along apparate all the children to Godric's Hollow, so they drove there by car. When they arrived they parked the car near the church and silently entered the graveyard. Harry had placed a comforting hand on Sirius shoulder while the grey-eyed boy was clutching James' hand. Sirius was grateful for their silent support.
The family passed rows of gravestones until they reached the one they had been looking for. Sirius stared blankly at the inscription that told him this was the place his former best friend had been buried for nearly forty years now. A single tear rolled down his cheek but he didn't notice.
James gently squeezed Sirius' hand while Harry squeezed his shoulder, both trying to silently comfort him. Ginny had brought flowers for them to put on the grave. She handed them all a white lily and a red rose. Sirius looked numbly at the flowers in his hand before he slowly knelt down and laid them gently on the grave. They wouldn't survive long in this cold winter weather he thought idly. Soon they would be dead, just like his friend.
Sirius didn't know how long they had been standing there. No one had said a single word the whole time, not even Lily. Still in complete silence they eventually made their way back to the car. Only when the family climbed into the car, Sirius finally released James' hand.
"Where are Remus and Dora...?" Sirius asked. He couldn't get the word 'buried' out.
"They are at the graveyard in Hogsmeade. There's a large cemetery for all the people that fell during the Final Battle and a memorial with the names of all the people that disappeared during the war and were never found," Harry answered gravely.
It wasn't on Hogwarts grounds – because Hogwarts was a school and a school shouldn't have a graveyard attached to it – but it was close. A lot of students had family members buried there and some visited their graves during Hogsmeade weekends.
It had become less and less over the years but some children still went, even if it was mostly out of curiosity and to experience the same shudder of horror that the Shrieking Shack had provided the students before the war. But some people – like Teddy – still came there to remember the dead.
On New Year's Eve Sirius was forced to make his first public appearance as part of the Potter family. Every year the Ministry held a New Year's Eve party for all the ministry officials and other important people and of course the Saviour of the Wizarding World just had to attend. It was the only ministry function Harry and his family attended throughout the year.
Sirius and the male Potters looked uncomfortable in their best dress robes as they stepped into the large ball room where the party took place. Ginny seemed at ease though and held an excited Lily by the hand. It was the first time the youngest Potter was allowed to attend.
They were greeted by Hermione as soon as they entered the room. As the new Minister for Magic she had to welcome all the guests personally. Ron, Rose and Hugo were awkwardly standing next to her, not yet used to the amount of socialising that came with Hermione's new position.
"Hey Ron, how are you holding up?" Harry asked his best friend as he clapped him on the shoulder in greeting.
"Fine, considering I haven't cursed any of those slimy blood purists yet who have the nerve to insult 'Mione to her face. I have no idea how she puts up with them every day."
Harry gave his friend a sympathetic smile. A lot had changed after the war and the ministry wasn't as corrupt as it used to be. But although most of the Death Eaters had been caught and were now sitting in Askaban, there were still some blood purists and Voldemort sympathizers who had managed to maintain their political influence. In fact, there was a small but worrying number of young purebloods, who called themselves Neo Death Eaters and idolized Voldemort and his regime, despite being too young to remember any of it.
He couldn't stay longer to chat with his friends though, because more guests were pouring in, forcing the Potters to step further into the ball room. Hermione however did send Rose and Hugo with them to spare them from the boring task of welcoming everyone.
After mingling with the other guests for a few minutes and a short chat with the previous minister, Ginny spotted her parents in the steadily growing crowd and walked towards them with the rest of the family following her. They were soon joined by Percy and his family.
"I'm bored," Sirius complained after only five minutes of listening to the adults talking.
"Let's go to the buffet, it's the only good thing at these functions," James said and led Sirius through the crowd to the tables that held various foods and drinks.
As the night wore on people started dancing to the music of an orchestra. James and Sirius watched from the sidelines as Rose dragged Albus with her onto the dance floor, trying to teach him to dance a simple foxtrot. It wasn't working out too well though and James laughed at his brother's discomfort.
"Don't laugh if you can't do it better," Lily chastised her big brother which shut him up.
"Yeah, don't laugh at the poor kid," Sirius snickered as Albus once again stepped on Rose's feet.
"Oh, so you want to teach me how to dance?" Lily asked Sirius sweetly.
"Uh, no I'm good, thanks," Sirius slowly edged away from the petite red-headed witch and tried to hide behind James.
"You're just afraid you're going to make a fool out of yourself," Lily said.
"I'm not afraid!" Sirius cried and stopped trying to hide behind James. "Alright, which dance do you want to learn?" he challenged her then.
Sirius could feel James' incredulous stare on him.
"Um, the waltz?" Lily said hesitantly.
"Okay, come on," Sirius agreed and pulled her onto the dance floor. Lily looked up at him expectantly and a little doubtful.
"Take my left hand with your right and put your left hand on my right arm. That's the correct posture for nearly ever dance," Sirius told her and Lily followed his instruction.
"Now you go one step back with your right foot, make a side step with your left and close your feet. Then you go back with your left, side-step with right and close again. Good." Sirius had started leading Lily slowly around the dance floor while instructing her. "Right, side, close. Left, side, close. Very good," he complimented her as they slowly danced around and Lily smiled proudly.
The next song was a little faster and Lily's brown eyes shone with happiness as Sirius whirled her around the dance floor. She was having a great time and so Sirius didn't complain like he normally would and just smiled indulgently at her in return while they continued to dance.
"Where did you learn to dance like that?" James asked baffled when they returned from the dance floor.
"It's a secret Jamie," Sirius grinned. He couldn't explain right now because James was in the company of his friend and dorm mate Jason Jordan who still didn't know who Sirius really was.
Lily had run off to show her cousin Hugo what she had learned from Sirius. The brown haired boy was far from enthusiastic though and escaped to the buffet table. Lily pouted and the three boys, who had been watching them, laughed.
Sirius didn't laugh long though. Lily had wasted no time to tell her female cousins about his dancing skills and now the younger ones were lining up to dance with him since the other boys their age were all unable and unwilling to dance with them.
"Why can't you just dance with each other?" Sirius groaned. Like any boy his age he didn't particularly like dancing although he was able to. He'd rather spend time with his friends. Liam was here somewhere and he had yet to speak to him.
"No. Do you see any other women dance with each other?" Rose asked rhetorically.
"Then go pester your fathers," Sirius suggested.
Rose and Lily snorted. "Have you ever seen them dance?" they asked.
"Um, no," Sirius admitted. He had a feeling he knew where this was going and it didn't bode well for him.
"There's a good reason for that. The only dance they ever learned is the waltz for their wedding. Mum and Aunt Ginny always complain about it because they hardly ever dance with them. They wouldn't dance with us and if they did they would probably step on our feet," Rose explained effectively dashing Sirius' hopes to avoid any more dancing this evening.
"Seems you have no choice, mate," James chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, which didn't comfort Sirius at all.
"I'm going to teach you how to dance so next time you'll suffer with me," Sirius threatened his laughing best friend.
The first Weasley cousin he danced with was Rose, who already knew how to dance. Next was Lucy. The shy Hufflepuff girl blushed and tripped over her feet the whole time he tried to teach her how to waltz. Sirius was just teaching Lily the foxtrot when midnight finally came around.
The music stopped and everyone went outside to watch the fireworks. Sirius saw many couples kiss at the stroke of midnight. The adults drank champagne and the children got pumpkin juice to drink to the New Year. The fireworks lasted for an hour and afterwards the first guests left the party.
Ginny also decided that it was late enough for Lily and so the Potter family went home. Sirius was quite relieved that there would be no more dancing for him that night, because his feet hurt and he was dead tired. Exhausted he fell into his bed and slept until noon without waking once.
When Sirius started packing for Hogwarts a few days later, the journal Lily had given him for his birthday fell into his hands. At first he had no intention of using it. But now the memories of what he privately called his 'first life' filled some of the pages. Initially, he started to write them down because he was afraid he would forget them, would forget his old friends. However, he had recently noticed, that his memories seemed to become more rather than less. Every day he seemed to recall just a little bit more of his previous life. So Sirius had taken to writing down every new memory in his journal, no matter how insignificant it appeared to be.
His most recent entries were all about the Christmas holidays he spent with Remus in Hogwarts during their third year. James and Peter had gone home for Christmas and so it had just been the two of them. Sometimes it was very confusing to remember the same things just slightly differently. This was especially true for classes. Charms and History were the most difficult to tell apart, because they were still taught by the same teacher.
Sirius contemplated if he should tell anyone about his increasing amount of memories, but decided against it for now. They were nice, but not really noteworthy. Besides, he still wasn't sure if his memories were actually returning or if he just remembered more because he actively thought about them.
In the end, Sirius packed the journal into his trunk and buried it underneath his clothes, so no one would accidentally find it. For now, he wanted to keep those precious memories to himself.
After a last round of quidditch and some last minute packing, they all gathered in the living room to floo to Hogwarts. Ginny hugged them all goodbye and made them promise to write at least once a week.
"And don't get into too much trouble," she said with a stern look towards James.
"Yes, Mum," her oldest son responded half-heartedly. They all knew he probably wouldn't be able to keep that promise.
Then they were off. One after the other stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a whirl of green flames. Harry went first, followed by James. Then it was Sirius' turn and he had to suppress a laugh when he stepped out of the fireplace and found Harry and James lying tangled together on the office floor. Quickly he stepped aside to avoid being bowled over by Albus, who flooed in behind him.
"I hate flooing," Harry grumbled as he picked himself up from the floor.
"You hate all kind of magical transportation," James stated as Sirius helped him up.
"I love flying," Harry objected.
Lily arrived last and the four students left the office to wait in the Great Hall for the beginning of the feast while Harry went to the headmaster's office to inform Neville of their arrival.