Hello everybody!

Once again, it's sadly been ages. No, this story has not been abandoned, just fallen victim to daily life. It's never completely left my mind though, especially since I regularly get notifications about new alerts and favourites. To everyone who's new, how do you keep finding this story?

Anyway, here it finally is, Chapter 21:

-oOo-

Before Sirius knew it, they had less than a week to go until Christmas. Harry's last day at school was a Wednesday, the twenty-first. The day afterwards, the Weasleys would come over for dinner. The twenty-third was a full moon. Then there were Christmas Eve, Christmas Day… Sirius sighed at the calendar. At least, he tried to console himself, there was no danger of getting bored over the holidays.

He dropped an excited Harry off at school on Wednesday morning and disapparated as soon as he was out of sight of any muggles. He still had a lot to do – with the dinner the following day and the full moon, all preparations for Christmas had to be finished today. Moony was in charge of buying food. That was one worry off his mind. He had sent an owl to the Weasleys the previous week and asked to come over to the Burrow to discuss a few details. He had received a standing invitation.

The Weasleys' house was tall, wonky and obviously magical. This was a building erected with an eye on practicality, not aesthetics. Still, it had a certain rustic charm to it. He walked up to the front door, upsetting some chickens on the way, and knocked. After a short wait, the door was opened by a small and round woman with red hair. She smiled up at him kindly. 'Mr Black, come in, come in.' She eyed him with some curiosity, probably because of his muggle clothes.

'Thank you, Mrs Weasley.' As he shrugged of his coat, he noticed the four freckled and ginger heads poking out of a doorway. He grinned at them. Mrs Weasley took his coat from him and somehow managed to hang it up alongside at least three dozen other jackets and cloaks. She turned to lead him to the kitchen, her movement making the children scuttle away.

When he had knocked, they had apparently been sitting around the kitchen table that was covered in bits of coloured paper, stars, tinsel, scissors, glue, glitter and all sorts of other things used for crafts.

'We are making decorations,' Mrs Weasley explained with a smile. 'These are Fred and George,' she said, ruffling the hair of the two oldest children. They were obviously twins.

'No, I'm Fred.'

'No, I'm Fred.'

'Mum, he's pretending to be me again.'

'No, he's pretending to be me.'

Sirius laughed over their mother's affectionate scolding of 'Behave when we have guests' and offered them a hand each. 'Nice to meet you, boys. I'm Sirius.'

'This is Ronald.' She indicated to the third boy who smiled at Sirius shyly and shook his hand.

'And Ginevra, our youngest.'

The girl glared at her mother. 'I'm Ginny,' she told Sirius forcefully. Though amused by her ferocity, he kept a smile off his face as he extended his hand to her, too. 'Nice to meet you, Ginny.'

Before anything else could be said, she blurted out: 'Were you really in Azkaban?'

'Don't be so nosey, Ginny,' said her mother before Sirius could answer. 'Mr Black, do sit down. Would you like a cup of tea?'

'Yes, thank you. And please, call me Sirius.'

Sirius drew up a chair under the curious glances of the four kids. 'So, what have you been making?' he asked.

He was promptly shown pictures and ornaments and tried to listen to four voices at once, explaining what they had been making and who it was for. Fred and George in particular were hard to understand as they seemed to be experimenting with taking over each other's sentences every other word.

'This is for Bill,' said Ginny proudly, doing her best to make herself heard over her brothers.

'Bill?' asked Sirius as Mrs Weasley placed a steaming mug before him and a plate of biscuits in the centre of the table. There was a scuffle as four pairs of little hands grabbed as many sweets as they could hold.

'Bill, Charly and Percy are due back from Hogwarts this afternoon. We're rather looking forwards to it, aren't we?'

The children nodded in unison. They could not speak because their mouths were full. Mrs Weasley drew up a chair for herself, too.

'Mr Bl… Sirius, are you certain that you want all of us to come tomorrow? It would be perfectly understandable if it was just Arthur and Percy, maybe also Bill and Charlie, but there really is no need to have all of us.'

'No, don't worry. I invited all of you and I'm not backing out. Actually, there another reason why I really would like to have all of you.'

'Oh?'

'Yes, er… Do you think it would be possible to talk in private for a few minutes?'

Mrs Weasley seemed surprised but promptly shooed her four youngest from the kitchen. They grudgingly obliged and each grabbed another handful of biscuits 'for the journey', as Fred – or George – put it. As soon as the door closed behind them, Mrs Weasley pointed her wand at it and muttered a spell under her breath. Sirius smiled. He could guess that all of them would be listening at the door. She looked at Sirius expectantly.

'Well, I'm not sure if you know this but I am Harry Potter's godfather.'

She nodded. 'Yes, I know. It was in the papers.'

'Yes – well… The thing is that he has been living with me for a few months now. We have kept it quiet, for security reasons, as I'm sure you can understand.'

'Poor thing…'

'We would also like to keep it a secret for as long as possible. I know it is a lot to ask but would it be possible to make it seem like he is just staying with me for the holidays? I know that the secret is bound to come out be we would just like it to be later rather than sooner.'

She nodded. 'Of course. I will arrange for that.'

'Thank you. There is also… well, Harry's never met anyone of our world except my friend Remus, Dumbledore and me. He does not know that he is famous, nor does he know why. I told him about my involvement but with the rest, I am waiting to tell him until he asks.'

She nodded compassionately. 'It must be horrible to tell a child such a thing. And he's no older than my little Ronnie…'

'That's why I want to wait until he asks. I won't lie to him about something like this but I don't want to tell him any sooner than need be, either. I'd just rather he heard it from me than your children. Do you think that can be arranged, too?'

'Yes, of course. I think… well, I'll tell them not to mention it. I'd probably do that anyway – he shouldn't be reminded of such terrible things, should he? Not at Christmas, poor boy…'

'It's okay if something gets through. I don't like to ask anybody to lie. That's not good for Harry, either, but… I'd like to save him some pain. He's a very good kid.'

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from the next room, followed by a wail and the shout of 'Mum!' Mrs Weasley hurried across the room without hesitation. She began to scold her children before she had even reached the hall. 'What have I told you… Best behaviour, I said, didn't I? Always the same. Why don't you ever listen? What happened here? Fred, George, what did you do?'

'Nothing!' complained two voices at once. The wailing stopped.

'He jumped…' began one of the twins.

'…off the sofa…' continued his brother.

'…and fell,' ended the first one.

'It wasn't us!' said the other.

'You're the oldest now! You should have been looking out for him!'

'It's not our fault…'

'…he's clumsy! Ginny did it before him…'

'…and she didn't hurt herself! Even though…'

'…she's just a girl! Ronnie's always been a little slow…' Before either of them could finish the sentence, the two younger children interrupted.

'I'm not just a girl! Mum, tell them…'

'I'm not slow! And don't call me "Ronnie"…'

Sirius chuckled quietly and helped himself to another mince pie, waiting for the argument to blow over. What would it have been like a few years ago, at some point with seven little children at home? What would it be like tonight? He hoped for Mrs Weasley's sake that her husband would return from work before her remaining sons arrived at King's Cross. Seven… He had his hands full when it was just Ben and Harry, and he had never had them for more than a couple of hours at a time.

Mrs Weasley returned with a red-eyed Ron, whom she sat on a chair and with a practiced flick of her wand conjured some ice that she wrapped in a clean tea towel. The other children trailed in after her, looking chastised. 'And I've had to leave our guest alone do deal with this. That's very rude,' she continued to tell them off. 'And I told you to behave. If I see any more if this, you won't be coming with tomorrow, do you understand me?' She handed the tea towel to Ron who pressed it to his forehead. The children nodded. 'That is if Mr Black still wants you to come after he has seen the racket you've made…'

'They are very welcome,' said Sirius, smiling. 'I always like a bit of chaos in the house, Molly.' Besides, he hoped that Harry would make friends with them. He trusted the Weasleys – they were good people. Some more or less regular contact with magical children could not hurt Harry – provided they got along, obviously. He was still planning to introduce him to Neville at some point but had not run across him yet.

Sirius excused himself after another few minutes, leaving by the Floo network, thus testing that it would work smoothly the next day.

School would finish early today on account of a play that would be performed by the students. Parents had been invited to arrive an hour early to watch and Sirius and Moony had of course chosen to attend. All the kids had small roles only, one sentence each to make sure that nobody felt treated unjustly. Harry's part was a reciting a line from a poem and Sirius made sure to let him know that he had done it brilliantly.

Harry beamed. He and Ben were tumbling around the playground excitedly as Moony and Sirius stood and talked to Sam.

'And you really are sure it's okay for Harry to stay over?' asked Moony. 'We'd understand. It's the night before Christmas Eve and…'

'It's fine,' said Sam, smiling. 'We've got nothing planned until the afternoon and since Harry will keep Ben busy, we might actually have a chance to get a few things done beforehand. So if anything, he'll make things easier.'

It began to snow around lunchtime the next day. By the time the Weasleys arrived in the middle of the afternoon, there was a layer of about an inch and a half covering the garden. Sirius and Moony spent most of the day in the kitchen, cooking. Harry tried to help but he had been too excited to be trusted with anything important ever since Sirius had told him how Percy had been the one who had found Pettigrew and thus made it possible for Sirius to be released from prison.

Harry was sitting at the kitchen table trying to do some colouring in – in an effort to make a Christmas card for Ben – when the fireplace in the sitting room roared into life for the first time. He jumped, dropping his pencil and ran ahead, but only into the hall where he waited for Sirius – it seemed he was not excited enough to face complete strangers all by himself. Moony stayed behind, watching the pots.

Mr Weasley had been the first through. He shook Sirius' hand with a smile. 'Thanks again for the invitation, Mr Black,' he said. 'We are honoured.'

Sirius waved him off. 'It's nothing. And call me Sirius, please.'

'Only if you call me Arthur.'

Harry stood half hidden behind Sirius but Arthur's kind smile reassured him enough to shake hands with him. 'I'm Harry.'

'Nice to meet you, Harry.'

Again and again, the fireplace lit up green as one ginger person after the other emerged. They were introduced to everyone.

Bill was the oldest. He was broad shouldered and as tall as Sirius, handsome and confident. Even after a few minutes, Sirius could tell that all of his younger siblings looked up to him, and that Bill knew it, too. He was their leader and he assumed that roll with quiet grace.

Charlie was a lot closer to him in age than he was to Percy, the next youngest. He was smaller, stockier and not as obviously good-looking, but very charismatic with an infectious laugh. He was the only one who Bill looked to as an equal. His handshake was firm and Sirius instantly knew that he would be everyone's good mate.

Percy reminded Sirius of a young Moony with his studious air. He was calmer than his siblings and after a few minutes of talking to him, Sirius would have put him into Ravenclaw. Percy did his best to look immaculate and older than he actually was. His gaze darted to Bill every few seconds, looking for guidance and reassurance. He was taken aback when Harry hugged him tightly and thanked him for getting his godfather out of prison.

Fred and George were just as Sirius had first met them, carefree jokesters. They grinned at Harry and spoke in unison, making him laugh after a moment of confusion.

Ron was once more a little shy but he, too, shook Harry's hand and introduced himself. His eyes darted up to Harry's scar but with a glance at his mother, he did not say anything about it.

Ginny smiled at everyone cheerfully with the confidence of a little girl who knew that she could wrap everyone around her little finger with her big, brown eyes. She was the closest to Harry in size, if not necessarily in age and he seemed to notice. They were both used to being the smallest.

Most of the sitting room was taken up by a large dining table that Sirius had conjured up out for the occasion. Everyone found a seat eventually, after a lot of pushing, arguing and a single and but final call to order by Mrs Weasley. They had cake, biscuits, tea, hot chocolate and coffee. Harry sat next to Percy and hung onto his every word in an act of hero worship – at least for the first few minutes after which he seemed to decide that while Percy may have been the one to get his godfather out of prison, this did not mean that he was interesting. Sirius watched this with a little smile. Afterwards, Harry concentrated on Ron, Fred and George. He seemed to be better entertained with them.

When the kids had finished their food, someone suggested playing outside in the snow for a bit. The four youngest Weasleys and Harry were instantly thrilled by the idea. Mrs Weasley urged Percy to go with them but he shook his head indignantly. 'I am too old for throwing snowballs, Mother,' he said. His older brothers exchanged an indulgent smile over this and one of the twins and Ginny stuck out their tongues at him while Ron ant the other twin merely rolled their eyes.

Percy was three years behind Charlie at school but the difference seemed bigger. Charlie was sixteen and had been hit by puberty, his voice was deep and his shoulders broad. Percy was twelve. The age gap to Fred and George was less than two years, and it showed. Bill and Charlie were the "older ones" and even though Percy was at Hogwarts with them, he did not manage to come across like them. He was trying too hard.

The five youngest children filed out into the hall, busily putting on shoes and coats – Mrs Weasley had used the Floo network to fetch everything her kids would need. Sirius walked past them on his way into the kitchen to make more tea.

'You can't play, you're too small,' said one of the twins to Ginny.

'Yeah, and you're a girl,' said Ron. 'Girls can't throw.'

'Mum said to let me play with you!' complained Ginny.

The other twin shrugged and grinned at her. 'And what're you gonna do, ickle-Ginny? Run to Mummy and cry?' Sirius stopped just inside the kitchen door and continued to listen.

'I'll tell Bill and he'll hex you!'

'No, he won't,' said Ron. 'He knows you're too small to play with us.'

'I'll play with you,' Harry spoke up. 'I'll show you my dragons if you want.'

'Okay,' said Ginny instantly.

'No,' complained Ron. 'You're supposed to come with us and play outside.'

'But it's mean if Ginny's left behind on her own. I'll stay with her.'

There was a moment of silence as options were silently weighed in three little boys' heads.

'Fine, she can come,' said one of the twins grudgingly. 'But she'll have to be on your team, Harry.'

The door opened and footsteps lead outside. It was only then that Sirius noticed that he was not alone in the room; Arthur stood by the stove. He smiled at Sirius. 'He's clever,' he told Sirius, letting him know that he, too, had been listening. 'And kind. You can be very proud of him.'

'I am,' said Sirius, setting down the teapot and filling the kettle.

Arthur nodded and watched with interest as Sirius turned a knob at the front of the stove and flames erupted at the top. 'How does that work?' he asked eagerly.

Sirius shrugged. 'You'll have to ask Remus. I don't know squat about muggle technology.'

Arthur nodded and proceeded to inspect the stove until the water was almost boiling. Sirius watched him in quiet amusement.

'Why do you have one?'

'It's a muggle area. We can't really live amongst magic folk, not with Harry. This is my way of hiding –it was either this or complete isolation, and the latter wouldn't be good for any of us.'

Arthur nodded. 'He would be used to muggles, Harry, wouldn't he?'

'Yeah, he is.'

'Does he see them much, his family?'

'No, he hasn't seen them since he moved in with me, and I don't think he will again, either.'

Arthur looked shocked and Sirius decided to elaborate. 'It was his choice to come here,' he explained. 'I would never have forced him. They… they were horrible, despicable… Trust me, if you had seen how they treated him, you would have taken him away, too. And he doesn't miss them.'

Arthur looked even more shocked now but it was no longer directed at Sirius. The water boiled and he poured it into the teapot.

'Arthur, Harry and I… we owe your family everything. If Pettigrew hadn't been found… I'd probably spend the rest of my live in that hellhole and Harry would have to keep living with those muggles. So, if there is anything, anything at all I can do for you, just say the word. I mean it.'

Arthur shook his head. 'Percy found out. He acted out of curiosity. It was mere chance that this set things in motion that would prove your innocence. You have no reason to be thankful. On the contrary, if I had acted correctly, I would have uncovered Pettigrew the day Percy found him.'

'But still Percy exposed him and that is the sole reason why I'm free.'

Arthur smiled sadly but did not reply. He was not an easy person to argue with, what with his calm reason and understanding smile.

Still, Sirius tried again. 'So, if you won't take anything, how about your children? Are there any Christmas wishes yet unfulfilled?'

Arthur looked undecided now, his pride about not accepting anything and the urge to see his children happy battling inside him. Sirius grinned, smelling a victory. He would gladly have given the Weasleys his money but he knew before he asked that they would not take it. They were too honest for that. Still, giving some extra Christmas presents to the kids seemed fair enough.

He grabbed the teapot and headed back to the sitting room, Arthur behind him. Without the younger kids, the room was a lot less loud and chaotic. Percy was talking to Moony about some book he had read, and Moony seemed interested enough. Molly was quietly arguing with her oldest son. 'And your hair is way too long, Bill. Who is going to employ you looking like that?'

Bill was leaning back in his chair, at ease with his mother's criticism. Sirius ran a hand through his own hair. He had not cut it since the day before his trial and while not as long as Bill's, it was still too long to meet Molly's approval, he knew that. He winked at Bill and sat down.

'So, what are you thinking of doing after Hogwarts?' he asked him. 'Is this your final year?'

Bill nodded, obviously thankful for the change of topic. 'I want to work as a cursebreaker, preferably for Gringotts, in Egypt or somewhere in South America – I've looked into Peru, Bolivia and Chile. It all sounds fascinating and exciting, so maybe that's where I'll end up.'

'Not bad,' said Sirius impressed. 'So, you're doing… Arithmancy, Ancient Runes… What else?'

'Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms. That's what I need but I'm trying to get NEWTs in Potions and Herbology, too, just in case.'

'Sounds like a lot of work.'

Bill nodded. 'Yeah, it keeps me busy.'

'He's Head Boy, too,' said Mrs Weasley proudly, brushing some dust of his shoulder. 'And Charles is a Prefect.'

'Mum, you don't need to brag,' said Charlie, winking at her. 'I won't be Head Boy, though,' he told Sirius. 'I'm hoping to become Quidditch Captain next year.'

'What position do you play?' asked Sirius.

'Seeker.'

'The best one Gryffindor's had for years,' interjected Bill. 'I've heard from it from Dumbledore himself that he is the best seeker Gryffindor has had since Minerva McGonagall played.'

Sirius laughed. 'Old Minnie was a seeker? Even after all these years, she still surprises me.'

'Sirius,' said Moony warningly.

Sirius rolled his eyes at him and winked at a chuckling Bill and Charlie. 'She always had a soft spot for me,' he told them, refraining from any dirtier jokes since Percy was listening. 'If you see her, feel free to tell her that she still is the woman of my dreams.'

Moony choked on his tea, Bill and Charlie burst out laughing, and Arthur hid a smile behind his cup. Molly, too, was trying to stifle a laugh. Percy alone seemed scandalised.

'For how long will she put me in detention if I repeat that to her?' asked Charlie.

'None,' said Sirius. 'She never put me in detention.'

'She so did,' muttered Moony.

'Yes, she always did, but not for flirting with her. You were there. She always almost smiled at me.'

Moony looked to Bill and Charlie and shook his head.

'James believed me!' complained Sirius, pretending to pout.

Moony smiled. 'Yes, he said he did. Then again, he might have just been trying to egg you on to see how far you would go.'

'She'd put you in detention,' said Bill to Charlie with conviction.

'She wouldn't,' said Sirius. 'I'm willing to bet you.'

'How much?' asked Charlie.

Sirius considered this. 'Okay, if she puts you in detention, I'll send her a howler to arrive at breakfast, declaring my undying love.'

Charlie grinned. 'You're on.' They shook on it.

Bill laughed. 'Oh, little brother, I so hope you land in detention.

'Charles, I'm not sure this is a good idea. You are a Prefect after…'

'Don't worry,' Moony interrupted her, back to his calm and reasonable self. 'Sirius is right. She never got really angry with him.'

'Besides,' added Sirius, 'James was made Head Boy and you should have seen all the stunts he pulled at school. She has a sense of humour, even if she doesn't let it show all that often.' Everyone chuckled again and Sirius chose to change the subject to something that would seem less horrid to the youngest at the table. 'So, Percy, do you play Quidditch at all?'

Percy shook his head.

'A wise decision,' interjected Moony.

'How about you, Sirius?' asked Bill.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer but Moony had snorted derisively. 'What?' he complained instead.

'Please,' said Moony. 'Playing Quidditch would actually have involved doing something. I remember when there were times when we couldn't get you out of bed unless we could offer you food or pretty girls, or both. You even spent an entire month once without doing one bit of homework.'

'Good times,' said Sirius with a wistful smile. 'Drove my parents mad, that did.' Then, realising who he was talking to, he decided to amend that statement. 'Which they deserved because they were vile, evil sods – very much unlike your fine parents,' he added with a look at the three Weasley boys.

'What happens when you don't do homework for a month?' asked Charlie, sounding slightly in awe.

Sirius shrugged. 'Well, by the end I was spending every minute I wasn't in class in detention. It got boring eventually – plus, the record was what I was really after. Once I completed the month, there wasn't much incentive to go on. A whole term might have been nice but I decided not to push it.'

The last part made Moony snort again. Charlie and Bill chuckled and even Arthur seemed amused while Percy again looked scandalised. Molly's glare was distinctly disapproving but Sirius had the ability to ignore such things.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George stayed outside until Mrs Weasley called them in for dinner. Their cheeks were red and they were soaked to the skin, but grins were etched into all of their faces. One of the twins sported a scrape on his left cheek and Mrs Weasley instantly fussed over him. 'Freddie, what happened?'

Fred shrugged. 'Nothing.'

'It was me,' said Harry at the same time. 'I threw a snowball at him and it did that. I didn't mean to hurt him. I'm sorry.'

Fred sighed and looked down at him. 'I told you, it's fine. I wasn't gonna drop you in.'

Harry's eyes darted from Sirius to Mrs Weasley and back again. 'I'm sorry,' he repeated. Sirius, too, looked to Mrs Weasley. She seemed a little confused at the way he so readily admitted to the misdeed. Sirius supposed that the Weasley children had a rule of not snitching on each other. They only pair of siblings Harry regularly experienced were Ben and Charlie who were constantly at each other's throats and had no such qualms. With seven kids in the house, Sirius supposed that turning each other in for every minor misdeed would be to anyone's advantage.

'You should be more careful next time, Harry,' said Sirius, sensing that Mrs Weasley was hesitant to criticise Harry in front of him. 'You should always make sure that there're no stones or anything in a snowball before you throw it.'

'Yeah, best hope it doesn't scar, Harry,' said George. 'Otherwise people will be able to tell us apart and that would be a real pain in th…' His twin gave him a warning look. '…bum,' he finished, fooling no one into thinking that that was what he had been planning to say.

Harry was still looking chastised but when he saw Sirius laugh, he smiled as well.

Dinner was once more loud and chaotic. Harry told Sirius and Moony all about the battle they had fought with snowballs, Fred and George against the rest of them. They had built a fort and a snowman, too. Sirius was very glad to hear all this, and even happier when Harry asked, 'Can they come over again, to play?'

It would be easier for Harry to enter the magical world with some friends by his side instead of dropping him off at King's Cross eventually, into a world where he knew nobody but everybody believed to know him. But it was a long time yet until that day and until then, Sirius would make sure to prepare him to the best of his abilities.

-oOo-

So, that's it for today. I've got about two more chapters roughly worked out and I've started writing a sequel – but it will be a long time yet until I've turned it into something I feel comfortable publishing. There's also a couple other stories that I've started to work on – but, as it always is, starting them is a lot easier than finishing them ;)

I hope you like the Weasleys - I'd love to hear what you think of it!

DFTBA!