Chapter 29 - Kindred Spirits

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"Why'd you have to drag us out of bed so early love?" Sirius complained grumpily to Rowan as they walked through the halls of Hogwarts. He wasn't a morning person. The problem was compounded when he wasn't allowed to have breakfast. It didn't help that Rowan refused to tell him and Remus where they were going.

"And why did you want both of us along?" Remus asked curiously.

"Need, actually," Rowan corrected with an enigmatic smile. "Don't worry, we're almost there."

The two Marauders looked at each other and shrugged as she led them to the portrait concealing the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, gave the password, and stepped inside.

Harry and Ron were bent over a game of chess by the window and looked up at the three adults in curiosity when they entered the room. Without even pausing to wave, Rowan disappeared up the stair to the boys' dormitories.

Sirius and Remus watched her ascend the stairs in confusion. Rowan reappeared on the landing, and looked down at Moony and Padfoot.

"Get up here, you two."

"What is she up to?" Remus whispered to Sirius as they climbed the stone steps.

"You've got me, brother," Sirius shrugged. He glanced at Rowan's back and wondered if, just maybe, her demonic side was starting to show through. Demons loved to play confusing jokes, didn't they?

"She is sane, right?" Remus asked after a moment.

"Was she ever?"

~*~

Sirius could sense Moony standing right behind him as he pushed open the door to the seventh-year dormitory. The Weasley twins stood in the middle of the room looking shocked. Even Professor McGonagall probably didn't usually march right into their dormitory. Rowan, however, was kneeling in front of a large chest and pulling out an array of items.

The twins watched her apprehensively, but didn't say anything.

Sirius smiled at the twin's expressions. He knew that if a teacher had stormed into his room during his Hogwarts years, he'd be much more than shocked. He'd be doing his best to distract the teacher, while the others managed to hide any "questionable" items.

"Okay, other than terrifying the Weasley twins, what are you up to?"

Rowan stood brushing her robes off. She picked up some parchment order forms from a convenient stack on a bedside table and handed one to both the adult wizards. "I've decided on our distraction. What do you think?"

"'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'?" Remus read from the order form he held. Sirius glanced over the descriptions and gave a low whistle.

"Almost a better selection than Zonko's," Sirius raised an eyebrow at the twins and felt a gleeful grin creep across his face and his eyes brighten with mischief. "Please tell me you two intend to market these. If they're as good as they look . . ." He glanced, almost reverently, at the collection of pranks on the floor. He grinned mischievously and looked at Moony. "Where should we try first? Snape's dungeon or Filch's office?"

Moony grinned back. "That's not very responsible, you know. Shouldn't we be setting an example?"

"Since when are you James?" Sirius shot back. "We are setting an example. Besides school isn't in session at the moment. And neither of us are teachers."

"Sirius, do not encourage them!" Rowan laughed, gesturing toward the wide-eyed twins. Apparently seeing their ex-professor and Sirius Black behave like a pair of schoolboy pranksters was something of a shock. "James was a worse delinquent than either of you! He only looked responsible and mature. Besides, you can't waste these. We need them for later."

"We'd only need to test a few to see that they work properly, love!" Sirius protested. "And I'll stop acting like James when you stop impersonating Lily."

"I am not . . ." Rowan started, then checked herself and blushed and laughed. "All right, touché, I'll stop scolding."

"Um . . . who was 'James'?" George finally managed to ask, looking nervous. Probably from seeing three 'respectable' adults act like normal people. Sirius caught Rowan's eye and then glanced toward Remus. Harry had told them that the twins knew of the Marauders. Remus shrugged and nodded his permission.

"Harry's dad, James Potter," Sirius answered levelly. "Though you'd probably know him better as 'Prongs'."

The twin's jaws dropped, then they looked as though Christmas had come early. "Prongs?" Fred asked breathlessly. "You knew the Marauders?"

Sirius fought back laughter and decided not to reveal any more. "We went to Hogwarts together, yes," he answered mildly. "Actually we need your help in a rather delicate matter."

The twins looked up at Sirius in awe and nodded their heads eagerly. Obviously even being an acquaitance of the Marauders was enough to make them view Sirius as a near deity. "You see, Rowan and I are joining the Malfoys for tea and it's only polite that we bring along a few gifts." Sirius gestured towards the pile of pranks on the floor. "You don't mind helping out, do you?"

The twins blinked in surprise for several seconds before identical sly grins broke out over their faces. "You're planning to sneak into Malfoy Manor and crash their party?"

"We're not 'crashing' it. We were invited and will enter through the front door," Rowan corrected primly. "We're 'providing entertainment' or 'creating a distraction', depending on your point of view," she added thoughtfully. "Mad-Eye and Severus insist it's a distraction."

"Actually, Snape says we'll just be making a mess," Sirius commented with a roguish grin. Remus sniggered. Snape's actual words had been `creating a mess that won't even work.' Snape had also grumbled about having to clean up after their attempted fiasco.

The twins eagerly helped plan the distaraction. The five of them worked over possible devices and uses for them for another twenty minutes before coming to a tentative consensus. Rowan finally wrote down her vault number for the twins while Sirius and Remus gathered up a small armful of joke items and an extra catalogue each for further perusal. Rowan gave them a decidedly suspicious look, but refrained from commenting and thanked the twins for their help.

Fred and George talked quietly for a moment and then looked back at Sirius. "If there's any stories you have about the Marauders..."

Sirius nodded his head. "I might be able to dredge a few memories up. I'll owl you with anything that I might remember." He could already think of three different pranks to tell them, and if the twins decided to use them in Snape's class. Well, that would only be for the better, wouldn't it?

~*~

"Just a minute," Harry murmured, levering himself out of his chair and following the retreating form of Sirius as he, Rowan and Remus re-emerged from the boys' dormitory.

"Check-mate," Ron said behind him, followed by the crash-clink of Harry's king being destroyed.

"Sirius?" Harry asked tentatively, stopping the older wizard just after he stepped out the portrait hole. Sirius turned and smiled in greeting to his godson. Harry didn't smile much in return. "Do you think I could speak with you?"

Rowan silently relieved Sirius of his load, surreptitiously slipping him an old bronze key and giving Harry an encouraging smile before leaving with Remus.

Sirius looked after her fondly for a moment before pocketing the key. "Is anything wrong Harry?"

Harry suddenly found he didn't know what to say even as Sirius led the way toward Professor Myfanwy's office. He knew about the decision for Rowan and Sirius to accept the Malfoy's invitation on New Years Eve, of course. However, Harry suspected they were taking the risk more for him than for Sirius or even for Rowan. In hiding or not, Sirius and Rowan could be together. Even if they couldn't leave Hogwarts, there were many places for Sirius to hide from the beleaguered Ministry Aurors.

Harry, however, had to stay with Dursleys. The Ministry kept a close watch on him and would never agree to release the "Boy Who Lived" into the hands of a convicted murderer, a werewolf, or a witch with known attachments to both. However, if Sirius were cleared, they would have no choice. Harry could leave the Dursleys and live with his godfather. He suspected this, but couldn't decide how to ask Sirius if he was right and - though she was very kind to him - he didn't think he knew Rowan well enough yet.

Sirius unlocked the heavy wooden door and led Harry into the cosy warmth of the office. Harry still said nothing as Sirius crossed to a tall, decorative urn beside the fireplace and fished out a handful of sugar quills and chocolate frogs.

"Worried about something, Harry?" Sirius prompted gently, offering the sweets to Harry. Harry sighed, accepted a sugar quill and began to worry off the nib.

"I want you to come back," he admitted finally, knowing it sounded stupid. Sirius blinked, whatever he'd been expecting, this, obviously, wasn't it.

"You're worried about New Years then?"

"It's a trap, you said so yourself! So did Rowan! I . . ."

"You don't want to lose us?" Sirius gently finished for him when Harry choked. Harry nodded.

"I was hoping that we'd . . . um, be a family," Harry admitted, feeling rather silly. He'd never forget coming down to the tree early on Christmas morning and sitting between Rowan and Sirius as he attacked a horde of presents that easily rivalled Dudley's. For the first time in his life, he felt what it was to have a family of his own around him. Finally he had something like parents, an aunt and uncle in the form of Remus and Morgaine, and even a grandfather watching from the confines of a nearby armchair as well as his friends. He desperately didn't want to lose that, even though he knew he would as soon as the holidays ended and Sirius returned to hiding.

Sirius awkwardly laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "You're still too thin," he commented before clearing his throat. "You told me, just after the . . . incident in the Shrieking Shack you'd consider leaving your Aunt and Uncle. If you want another home, Harry . . . once my name is cleared, I'd be honoured if you'd still consider it."

"With you and Rowan?" Harry asked, forcing his face to stay neutral. Sirius watched him guardedly as he answered.

"Yes."

Harry considered this for a moment before smiling. "When can I move in?"

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