Thanks to my sole reviewer, Rylyn. Thanks also to my good friend Martyn for helping me out with this chapter :)
Standard disclaimers apply.
*
Sirius paced up and down the room excitedly. Finally, after
months of hard work, placing Muggle-repelling charms
on the place, generally making it fit for human habitation and having Moody and
Dumbledore cast all sorts of complicated spells to make
sure it was absolutely safe, he was finally allowed to have Harry come and stay
for the two weeks before he started his sixth year.
He was lookinng forward to it. He had set up home in
an abandoned village along the South Coast
- he had thought it was a bit creepy at first, until Dumbledore
said that no-one could go there as the British Army still had control of the
village, even though they no longer used it. Still, it was weird, he mused, wandering around the empty village, still exactly the same
as it was before what the Muggles called World War
Two. It was like stepping back in time. Still, there were lots of interesting
spots in the village. He couldn't wait to take Harry round.
Even though Harry wasn't meant to be there for another hour - Moody was fetching him, so it was likely that it would be at least three hours before he actually got here - Sirius couldn't keep still. He couldn't wait to see his godson.
"Sit down, Padfoot,"
laughed Lupin, who was sat in an armchair, one leg
hanging over the side, and sipping from a mug of hot tea, watching Sirius as he
paced up and down, idly flicking a piece of dust from the top of a cabinet.
"Anyone would think you were entertaining a prospective partner than your
godson!" Sirius grinned and sat down, taking the mug that Lupin offered him and taking a sip.
"I just want him to like it."
"He'll love it. Compared to his home, I expect this is Paradise.
You've done it up really nice." Sirius blushed.
"Hope so," he murmured. "I just . . . I haven't been there for
him for so long, I want him to feel as though he'll have a home with me if he
needs it."
"Honestly, Sirius, if he could he'd jump at the chance of living with
you."
"Why can't he live with me now!" whined Sirius.
"Well, there's the small matter of you still being a convicted murderer. It's probably not a good idea. Now calm down, he'll be here any minute!"
Sirius blushed again and looked away. Remus
was great, but he just had no idea how deeply he felt for Harry. Harry was
everything to him. If anything ever happened to Harry...
Sirius knew he wouldn't be able to cope.
Maybe it was the fact that Harry looked so much like James... Sirius and James
had always had a special bond, and Sirius had often wished that they could have
been more than just friends, but it wasn't to be the moment James had noticed
Lily Evans. He was an awful lot like James, too - sneaking into the Forbidden
Forest every five minutes, bending
the rules left right and centre, and as for Quidditch... he flew just as well, if not better, than
James had.
They sat together in a companionable silence, Sirius
occasionally glancing at the clock and tapping his foot on the floor. Finally, there
was a knock on the door and Sirius leapt up, threw open the door and grabbed
his godson in a bone-crunching hug.
"HARRY! Good to see ya!" he yelled
joyfully.
"What have I told you before about exercising caution when answering the
door?" growled Moody behind Harry, taking off a travelling
cloak. "You have to wait for the person behind the door to speak the
password . . ."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Sirius gestured vaguely with his hands in an
attempt to get Moody to shut up. He took a step back and gazed fondly at his
godson, his breath catching in his throat as he looked at Harry.
Harry looked more like James than ever. He had grown quite a bit taller since the last time Sirius had seen him, and his Quidditch training was adding some definition to his muscles. He was just as handsome as James had been - more so, because he had Lily's striking green eyes. He's a heartbreaker, all right, thought Sirius, shaking his head slightly as he realised he was checking out his best friend's son. I've got to stop this, he thought, grimly. Harry's not James, and he's my godson, I should not be thinking about him like this!
"Welcome to my home," he grinned, stepping back to let Harry in.
"Wow, cool!" exclaimed Harry, as he walked through into the living room. Sirius stood back, grinning proudly as Harry embraced Lupin and gazed around the room he'd made home, trying to ignore certain thoughts that were clamouring for attention in his head.
