Sirius had never been able to spend much time with his godson until that summer. It was cruel, really, that they only had month together; Sirius would have much preferred not to know when they would be separated. It would have been much more difficult to dread Harry's departure had he not known the exact day and hour that it would occur. Although he reminded himself at least one hundred times a day of Remus's words to him – "try to live each day in the moment, Padfoot; don't let yourself constantly think of the future, or you won't enjoy the time that you do have with him" – he still found himself counting the days and worrying about Harry's return to Hogwarts.
It wasn't just that he didn't want Harry to go. He also worried that prolonged exposure to him would make Harry realize Sirius's faults more acutely. His impulsiveness, his temper, his depressive episodes would all be so much more obvious when living under the same roof as his godson. Would Harry leave for school hoping never to return? Would he perhaps leave for school and then realize, once he arrived at the castle, how much more freedom he had there? Who would want to live with a convict in their prison? What would happen once Harry graduated in less than two years and Sirius was still stuck in this house? The questions were many and varied, and they woke Sirius often in the middle of the night. Occasionally he would go and sneak into Remus's bed, seeking the comfort that his old friend provided.
For what it was worth though (good luck telling his mind this), Harry seemed perfectly content at Grimmauld Place. He was enthusiastic about cleaning and always eager to help with a new project; constantly surprised by the dark artifacts and enchantments that they stumbled across in the house, he seemed never to be bored. He wasn't a troublemaker, far more likely to be found helping in the kitchen than blowing things up with the twins. And he loved Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap; Sirius, Tonks and Remus often had raucous games around the table with all of the kids.
Late at night after Harry went to bed, Sirius, Remus and often Tonks, who stayed over more often these days, would sit up and drink Firewhiskey and talk. Sometimes they were joined by Molly or Arthur, though Molly kept her distance more from Sirius these days after their argument about Harry and his importance in both their lives. Kingsley stopped by once or twice as well. Once Sirius got drunk he would spill out all his fears about Harry and what might happen in the future, and Remus and Tonks would always try to talk him around. He wondered sometimes how they never tired of his repetitive habits; he wanted to stop, but talking about things only made it better for the night and then in the morning his mind would be a mess again. Remus only let him follow this schedule two or three times a week; many nights Sirius would look for a bottle of alcohol only to have Moony shake his head and say "just sleep tonight, Sirius." This inevitably led to anything but a restful night.
One night, about ten days after Harry's arrival, Albus stopped by Grimmauld Place at nearly eleven o'clock. Remus started up when he saw the Headmaster, worried, but Albus smiled and held out a hand, gesturing Remus to relax and take a seat. "Not to worry my boy, I merely stopped in to talk and have a nightcap. When Harry's trial proved successful I told Sirius I would come and celebrate at another time, so here I am." Sirius felt grateful to Albus for actually following through on a promise; he poured the Headmaster a goblet and beckoned him to join them. Tonks was on duty so it was just the two Marauders in the kitchen.
They talked for a while about the children and how they were doing, and the outcome of Harry's trial. Albus told them how he was keeping a distance from Harry, hoping to discourage Voldemort from using Harry as a tool to gain information or attack the Headmaster. Sirius wondered idly if this was the best plan; he knew when Albus cut him off it always felt as though he had done something wrong, and hoped Harry would not come to the same conclusion. Remus said nothing to Albus's explanation, but Sirius could read the same kind of worry on his friends' face as well. Instead of questioning Albus though, which they both knew would yield nothing except assurances that Albus knew what he was doing, Remus changed the subject.
"Molly was talking to me yesterday, Albus, I think she means to ask you at the next meeting but since I have you here now I may as well bring it up. We all feel that the children should get out of the house soon. Everyone is getting a little… bottled up lately." Albus scrutinized them both with clear blue eyes. Sirius spoke up. "Harry hasn't been here as long, but the others have been stuck in here for about a month now. That's not good for anyone, Albus, especially kids. Maybe a weekly outing? Never on the same day, we could use disguises, send plenty of guards. It would be a nice way for some of the Order to get out too, Tonks and the rest of that lot spend way too much time in dark places." Albus nodded. "You don't need to try to convince me, Sirius; I am aware that morale is just as important as completing missions and the actual fight. Plan an outing for tomorrow, if you have the manpower, and then set up a schedule after that. Once a week should be enough until the children return to school. Have at least three members of the Order with the children."
Remus smiled. "Thank you Headmaster, it's appreciated." But Sirius wasn't done. "Albus, is anyone fitting for that job? Or only specific members?" Albus gave him a knowing smile, but his eyes were the color of steel. "You may go with them, Sirius. I understand being inside constantly, especially in this house, is challenging. But you must transform, and even when transformed you must still be disguised. If there is ever a shadow of a doubt that Voldemort knows our Headquarters are in London, I will have to ask you to stay here always. But right now, I think our priority is the sanity of everyone in this house."
Sirius felt as though he might explode with happiness. He could barely sleep that night, but instead of the usual worries that occupied his mind it was solely because he was so excited to get out of the house the next day. When he finally did fall asleep, he slept far too late and came down at half past ten, when Remus was just finishing telling the children about their plan for the day. The excitement threatened to overflow. The twins practically flew through the roof; Harry grinned happily. Ron and Ginny started singing some silly chant about getting outside.
Two hours later, everything was prepared and they were ready to head out. Tonks had outdone herself; she was a young man today, just a shade over six feet tall with black hair and a lot of muscle. Hermione and Ginny couldn't stop laughing about it, and Sirius had made a fair amount of jokes about crossdressing, but he could really see now how handy Tonks' gift was. Remus' hair was black as well and he had shrunk an inch or two; his facial features had been altered slightly so that he appeared younger. All the children's hair was black, including Harry and Hermione's, and the entire group was dressed similarly in shorts, trainers and t-shirts. They really did look like a group of siblings that had been kicked out of the house to get some exercise. Sirius transformed and then went to Remus's side; pulling out his wand, Remus performed some spells and Sirius felt his body change weirdly. He trotted upstairs to the mirror in Remus's bedroom. He resembled a lab more than anything now; his fur was smooth and brown instead of the shaggy, wild black fur he was used to, and he was smaller than his normal animagus's size. There truly wasn't a hint anywhere about the group of who they might really be, he thought happily.
He arrived back downstairs and Remus made sure everyone had a wand stowed in the waistband of their shorts; Tonks had Sirius's wand with her as well just in case things really went bad. They left through the front door; Molly expected them back in three hours, and had been briefed on their route beforehand so she could tell if they had gone missing.
It was a beautiful day, which was nothing short of a miracle in London. The sun was bright and hot, the temperature set to get near ninety degrees later. The streets were shabby and seedy, but Sirius felt as though he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. The grass was green, the wind on his face was fresh and full of the smell of pollen, flowers, and car fumes. He ran out in front of the group until called back again and again, feeling the pull and give of his muscles and the flap of his ears. His tail couldn't stop wagging. The children's faces were bright and happy; even Remus looked happier than Sirius had seen him in months. Tonks was practically skipping.
They walked quickly, leaving the poorer portion of London and heading to St. James Park, their destination. The walk took an hour. Upon reaching St. James Tonks ducked behind a tree to return their picnic hamper to full size; they found a lovely stretch of grass to spread a blanket on and settled down to eat. The children had never seen Buckingham Palace in person before, and they stared in awe, barely noticing what they were eating. Sirius had some water from the dog bowl they had brought along and then ran in circles, barking, until Remus admonished him to calm down. The last thing they needed was to get kicked out. They had brought a ball, and after eating the twins kicked it around a bit; Sirius chased it and brought it back when one of the boys overshot. It was the most peaceful hour Sirius had spent since before Azkaban.
Their time was nearly up; they had just enough time to get back to Grimmauld Place before Molly would start to worry, when Tonks disappeared behind a tree again. She came back a moment later, grinning. "Molly gave us two more hours everyone, settle in." Sirius went and chased some geese to help himself calm down; then he finally laid down next to Remus on the picnic blanket and panted happily, watching Ron, Hermione and Harry playing ball. Fred, George and Ginny had gone to get a bit closer view of the castle with Tonks. "What a lovely day, my friend," Remus said softly when they were alone. "I am so grateful that I was able to spend it with you." Sirius's expressions were compromised as a dog, but he hoped the look he gave Remus did his gratitude justice. None of this was possible without Remus.
They packed everything up on time and headed back, taking a slightly different route to Grimmauld just in case. When they arrived Molly helped transfigure everyone back to normal; once his fur was black again, Sirius transformed. Molly looked around at everyone and the grins on their faces and beamed. "Well that certainly was a good idea, Remus. I shall have to go next time; you're all practically glowing." Tonks, who needed no transfiguration and had just spent a moment in intense concentration before turning back to her usual, female self, laughed. "Next time you and I will take them, Molly; we'll have to pick somewhere good to go!"
Everyone was heartily hungry and laughing at dinner, and the war seemed very far away. The next Order meeting wasn't until next week; guard duty only required one person for the ministry, so only one of their number was in danger; and the glow left on their skin by the sun seemed to transfer around the table to Molly and Arthur as well. Sirius had never felt more a part of the family than he did in that moment. For the first night in quite a while, he had no interest in Firewhiskey; instead he went upstairs and collapsed happily into bed when the rest of the house did, and slept soundly through the night. Right before he fell asleep, he realized that he had not counted the days until he lost Harry even once. His last thought was "Moony would be so proud of me."