A/N: It recently came to my attention that many of you reading this are not aware there is a sequel, called Family Relations, or that I have posted previews to that story. So, once you're done with this story, may I direct you over to my humble Author's Page, where I have posted those three previews in their own setting under the title, not to surprisingly, Family Relations Preview. The story, in its entirety, should be out later this year.
And so I hope you have enjoyed Family Life, and hope you will return to read the sequel.
Chapter Forty-nine. Family Life
Summary: Forty-ninth chapter. No more to go. That about sums it up.
Harry ran back to Hogwarts as fast as he could. He had no intention of taking the parchment to the ministry first. If this was just some elaborate joke on Pettigrew's part, Harry wasn't going to look the part of the fool or let Pettigrew know his joke had succeeded. But past that, on the off chance the parchment was authentic, Harry felt there was one person in the world he wanted to see it.
Fifteen minutes later, after having told them the story of the meeting with Pettigrew in Hogsmeade and producing the parchment, Harry sat on the coffee table in front of his godparents as Sirius and Arabella's anxious eyes scanned the piece of paper.
Arabella was the first to look up as Sirius sat next to her, his stare still fixed on the parchment in his hands.
"Sirius." She whispered breathlessly. "What if it's real?"
Sirius only shook his head. "It's not possible." He said softly. "He would never do something like this. It has to be some sort of joke."
"There's one sure way to know." Arabella replied with a growing smile. "We'll take it to Dumbledore. If anyone can authenticate it, Sirius, he can."
A short while later Harry, Arabella, and Sirius sat before the Headmaster's desk. Behind the desk Dumbledore stood with Remus, who he had summoned after hearing Harry's story. Being an expert in the Dark Arts, Dumbledore felt Remus would be invaluable in also testing the parchment.
On the desk before the two men the parchment lay rolled out, being subjected to one spell after another.
On the other side of the desk six anxious pairs of eyes darted between the two men and the piece of parchment.
Some thirty minutes later Dumbledore and Remus finally lowered their wands as they stepped back. Remus looked exhausted while Dumbledore simply stood and studied the parchment for a few more moments.
"Sirius," the Headmaster said finally in a steady voice. "if all of our spells have been performed correctly," he paused as he turned to Remus, who gave a pleased nod with a bright smile, "it would seem Peter Pettigrew has indeed written your pardon. The parchment is authentic."
Sirius sat in his chair in stunned amazement as both Arabella and Harry gave equal shouts and hugged Sirius as tightly as they could.
"My recommendation," the Headmaster continued over the commotion, "would be to send the parchment to the ministry by way of a trusted courier. Perhaps Ron Weasley's father might be persuaded to see that it gets to the proper ministry members."
Harry owled Ron's father as soon as they got back to the room.
The very next morning Arthur Weasley stopped by Hogwarts on his way to the ministry. After a short meeting with Dumbledore to explain the situation, Mr. Weasley was off to the ministry as fast as the nearest fire could carry him.
Although Sirius had tried to warn Harry, Arabella, and Remus about how many things could still go wrong, Remus was determined not to allow the occasion to go by without some sort of celebration. That night he had a splendid party arranged in the great hall. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, and even Snape attended, with Analisa at his side. And despite his best efforts to remain cautiously pessimistic about the whole affair, Sirius finally gave into the spirit of the party, to appease Remus in nothing else, toasting Analisa for her help, all those gathered for their belief in his innocence, and even Pettigrew, for not appearing to be half the rat he always seemed to be.
Later that night, up in their room of the castle, Remus, Sirius, Arabella, and Harry sat in front of the warm, cheery fire as the three adults reminisced about their school days and speculated over happier days to come.
Sirius had just finished a story about something that had happened at a party that Sirius had thrown for Arabella as a surprise when she got her first job with the ministry as an Auror.
Remus turned to Sirius as he finished his story. "That wasn't the only thing we celebrated that night, Sirius, if you remember." He added with a quick smile.
Harry turned to his former teacher.
"What else was there?" He asked. Sirius' story had been a menagerie of things that went on at the party. Everything from several someones spiking the punchbowl several times, to his father getting drunk and singing love songs to his mother. If anything else had gone on, it had to be a good story.
Remus gave Sirius a wide grin. "Unless my memory fails me, Padfoot, that was the night you proposed to Arabella."
"Merlin's Beard!" Sirius exclaimed in mock surprise. "Is that when it happened? All I remembered was the next day people kept congratulating me. I had no idea what for."
Harry seemed to be the only one in the room who noticed how very uncomfortable Arabella looked suddenly. But she quickly buried the emotion as she smiled pleasantly.
"Well, that explains a lot." She replied, giving Sirius a slight slap on the arm as she got to her feet. "You were drunk. Can I get anyone more tea?" She quickly offered.
Sirius followed her to her feet, suddenly blocking her path as she started for the kitchen. A sudden look of determination mixed with a little of his old mischievousness in his eyes.
"I'm not drunk now, 'Bella." He stated.
Arabella pulled back a step, giving him a questioning stare. "What?"
Sirius took her by the arms and stared down at her with as much charm as he could put into one smile.
"I'm not drunk now." Sirius repeated. "In fact, I'm perfectly sober, perfectly sane, and perfectly in love with you." Sirius pulled back and ceremoniously dropped to one knee as he held one of Arabella's shaking hands in his. "Arabella Figg, would you do me the greatest honor of my life...by marrying me?"
Arabella's eyes grew as wide as Harry had ever seen them. Her mouth dropped open and the tea cup in her hand was only saved by Remus' quick action of grabbing it before it slipped from her hand.
The room fell into an uncanny silence from the rattle of voices it had been earlier as Harry and Remus and Sirius waited breathlessly for Arabella's response.
"It's...ah....multiple choice, if that's any help." Sirius finally offered as he remained on his one knee in the growing silence. "'Yes' or...ah...you know...the other one. 'Not yes'."
Arabella suddenly seemed to snapped out of her stupor. In an instant she flung herself into Sirius arms.
"You idiot!" She cried with exuberance. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes."
Sirius quickly wrapped his arms about her as he drew her back to her feet in a tight embrace, holding her lips in a passionate kiss until Remus made some noise to remind them someone else was there.
Sirius drew back reluctantly and gave Arabella a happy smile. "This was really sort of 'spur-of-the-moment'." He confessed. "I don't have a ring yet, but...."
Arabella quickly shook her head past her tears as she pulled back from him. Pulling out her wand she tapped it on her closed hand. Holding it up for Sirius to see, Arabella slowly opened her hand. There, lying in her palm, was an exquisite engagement ring.
Harry immediately recognized the ring. It was the same ring that the happy young woman had been flashing at him in the photo.
Sirius looked too pleased for words.
"You kept it." He stated as he picked the ring up from her hand. "All these years?"
"It meant something to me." Arabella replied quietly. "Something very special."
Sirius took the ring and carefully slipped it on her finger, kissing it as he let go of her hand. "I hoped it did."
Arabella kissed him affectionately on the lips.
"Soon." He whispered to her. "No waiting this time."
"Sirius, I have planning to do!" Arabella exclaimed. "Weddings take a lot of planning."
"Weddings take a church and a priest."
"And guests, and food, and a cake, and musicians.....and...and a dress....I have to get a dress! And flowers! I've got to order the flowers."
Sirius rolled his eyes as he turned to Remus for help.
"It'll be fun, Sirius." Remus promised. "Planning weddings is half the fun."
Sirius gave Arabella an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he turned to Harry. "I just hope this will make thing go smoother at the agency." He added.
Harry gave Sirius a perplexed look. "Agency?"
Sirius gave his godson a wink. "The adoption agency. They tend to adopt out to married couples faster than single parents."
This time it was Harry whose mouth dropped open while Arabella turned quickly to her now-fiancee.
"Merlin's Beard! You're not wasting any time, are you?" She asked with a growing smile.
"I've wasted enough time." Sirius replied. "All I want is my family. Safe and sound and together." He turned back to Harry, who still sat with his mouth hanging open. "So, what do you say, Harry? How does 'Potter-Black' sound to you?"
Harry suddenly launched himself off the sofa, right into Sirius' arms. "Like a dream come true." Harry cried as he hugged his godfather as tightly as he could.
"Hey!" A voice called from behind them. "Kodak moment!"
Sirius looked up to see Remus holding up a small camera. The three quickly stationed themselves properly in front of the fireplace as Remus snapped the picture.
News from the ministry wasn't as fast in coming as everyone had hoped. Three days later still no word was heard and Mr. Weasley stated that he hadn't heard anything more about the parchment since he had handed it personally to Moody.
At the end of the fourth day, Sirius had suggested that maybe they should return home. His excuse had been that the school term would be starting soon and he didn't want to be in the way as the teachers prepared for the students. But both Harry and Arabella could hear the anxiety in his voice as he presented the idea of returning home to them, as well as could they both guess the real reason for the sudden need for a change of scenery. The castle was as comfortable as any home could be to any of them, but it wasn't 'home'. And as eager as they all were for a little normalcy before Harry had to return to school, they quickly agreed to the move. For Arabella it was returning to her cozy cottage, which had been repaired from whatever damage had been done to it by the fire in the house next door. For Harry it was the simple, pleasurable idea of being able to spend the last days of the summer holidays alone with his godparents.
Early the next morning, Harry was happily unpacking his things in his own room back in Arabella's cottage. He couldn't wait for the smells of Arabella's cooking to fill the house, or to spend the evening curled up on the sofa in front of the television with his godparents, or just to sleep in his own bed. To sleep for the first night in months where he wasn't afraid of someone trying to harm him or his godparents. There were still wards and protection charms on the house due to the displaced Deatheaters still wandering about who might seek revenge on Harry. But Harry had a hard time seeing them as any threat that Sirius or Arabella couldn't easily handle. Especially without Voldemort to order them about. And Snape had reported over the last few days no meetings had been held to try and regroup any of the scattered factions.
Harry tried not to let himself dwell too much on the parchment. He told himself that the ministry members were likely performing every spell they could think of on the parchment to authenticate it, and probably making up a few extra ones just to be sure.
But as hard as he tried not to think about the parchment, that's exactly where his mind seemed to be most of the time. Even the following day as he wandered about the yard, trying to instead distract himself by making a mental checklist of everything he had to be sure he had before leaving for school.
But as he walked by the fence that bordered the front street, Harry's concentration was broken by a voice calling to him.
"Hey!"
Harry looked up to see a boy of about his own age walking down the sidewalk just ahead of him. The stranger stopped as he came to stand in front of Harry, who eyed the newcomer with a certain amount of caution.
"You live here?" The boy asked.
Harry saw no harm in answering the question. Especially since to him it seemed fairly obvious. "Yeah."
"Been here long?"
"Why do you asked?" Harry questioned, a bit of the old paranoia seizing hold of him again.
"Not being nosy." The boy replied with a good-natured smile that reminded Harry a bit of Ron. "It's just I wondered if you were here when the fire broke out in the house next door. Burned it to the ground they said."
Harry turned around and looked at the now empty lot where the abandoned house once stood, then turned back to the boy. "Looks like they were right." He replied matter-of-factly.
"So, were you living here then?"
Harry nodded.
"Cool!" The other boy stated with admiration. "That must have been something. Seeing it that close."
"Actually, it was a little scary." Harry admitted, thinking about how frightening the night had actually been.
"Oh, right." The boy said suddenly. "I guess it would be. Good thing it didn't damage your house though."
Harry didn't reply.
Quickly, to fill the awkward silence, the boy stuck his hand out. "I'm Mathew Barriger. I live up the road."
Harry shook the boy's hand. "Harry Potter." He replied.
Mathew just shook Harry's hand without the slightest note of acknowledgement as to his name.
For a minute Harry was surprised. But then quickly, and gratefully, remembered that in the muggle world he wasn't the least bit famous.
"So," Mathew said, pulling his hand back, "have you lived here long?"
Harry shook his head. "Only since this summer."
"Where did you move from?"
Harry thought for a moment. 'Just a few streets over' didn't sound very good to him right then. "Godric's Hollow." Harry answered instead.
"Never heard of it."
"It's pretty far away." Harry admitted.
Harry spent a good bit of time chatting with Mathew at the fence. None of the questions the boy asked were anything Harry felt were wrong to answer. All of them centered around basic information that anyone meeting you for the first time might asked. And certainly the answers were things that, if the boy was somehow working for the Deatheaters, they already knew about him. And it was nice for a change, Harry thought to himself, to just stand and talk to someone like the world around him was a normal place and he was just a normal teenager.
But a sudden voice calling his name brought the conversation to an end.
"Harry!"
Harry turned around to see Arabella standing in the doorway. "It's time for lunch, Dear."
Mathew followed Harry stare. Within a few seconds, Sirius stepped into view.
"Come on, Harry." He called. "Before it gets cold. Then we'll have to give it all to the dog." He added with a slight smile.
"So," Mathew asked as Harry turned towards the house, "those your parents?"
Harry stopped suddenly. He turned back to the boy with a broad smile.
"Not yet."