Maybe Now
By: Miss Taomi
Miss Taomi hopes you will forgive her for not updating. Miss Taomi would like to remind readers that Miss Taomi sometimes has writer's block, which keeps Miss Taomi from writing a whole ton. Miss Taomi would also like to share that she learned a new word, natter, which she will be using in her writing. Miss Taomi also says that her last name is not Taomi but something else. So don't look in the phone books to check out where she lives, and she is moving, so she doubts that would find where she lives anyway.
Miss Taomi bids you a good day, and hopes you won't give any flames that aren't necessary. Enjoy!
I need a sign to let me know you're here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know that things are gonna look up
'Cause I feel us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup
-Train
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Harry spent the rest of the day listening to Sirius tell him about the wizarding world. It was very exciting. By the way the man was telling the stories, he could tell that this wasn't a big scheme. And besides, why would the Dursley's go through any trouble for Harry?"—and then, of course, your dad being your dad, slipped," Sirius finished with a laugh. Harry laughed too.
He was sure that he now knew more about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry than any other student in his generation. It all was quite exhilarating.
"Don't tell me you're still torturing the boy with all your stories," Remus Lupin said, walking into Mrs. Figg's living room. Sirius glared.
"Just because you don't want to listen doesn't mean everyone else has to do the same," said Sirius. He turned back to Harry.
Remus just rolled his eyes and turned back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Arabella Figg came out looking outraged.
"Sirius Black!" she said, lividly.
Sirius looked at Harry and muttered, "Look, it's the Figg. It's too late for me, but maybe you can make a run for it."
Arabella looked at the man with his godson. "I can't believe you'd keep this poor boy on this couch telling him about your stupid adventures as a Hogwarts student! Had it ever occurred to you that Harry might not be interested in your Hogwarts days?"
"It's fine, Mrs. Figg. I actually enjoy listening to him," Harry told the woman.
"See?" said Sirius.
"Oh Harry," Arabella's voice softened, "you don't want to listen to him all day. He'll go on forever. And it isn't just for you. Black's head will swell from all the attention. You see, he's not used to people listening to him."
Sirius stood. "People listen to me all the time! Why, just the other day you—"
"I don't count Sirius. It was pity that drove me to listen to you," said Mrs. Figg.
Now Sirius grinned. "Would pity drive you to anything else. Say—"
"Mister Black, there is a very young boy present!" the woman scolded.
"Aw, he's going to do it sometime in his life!" Sirius told her.
Harry had a pretty good idea what they were talking about.
Arabella blushed furiously. "You'd be surprised at what pity can do."
"Whatever it is, don't say it out loud," Remus came into the room. "It's bad enough with you two flirting every time you're around each other. Why don't you flirt when it's just you two?"
"We don't flirt," Sirius and Arabella said in unison. They looked at each other then back at Remus.
"See what I mean?" he asked. "Come on, Harry, let's leave these two to natter with each other."
Harry grinned at the man and walked inside the kitchen with him, leaving behind two speechless adults.
"The nerve of Remus Lupin—" said Arabella.
"I know! To think he said I flirt! I haven't flirted since second year," Sirius put in.
"He thinks I like this poor excuse for a man—"
"Going off with my godson—"
"And then deliberately accuses me of flirting—"
Remus and Harry peered out the kitchen door where the other two were arguing with themselves. "They're a perfect couple," Remus sniggered.
Harry grinned up at him. "Are they going to go on like this a lot?" he asked.
Remus pulled the boy away from the door. "I'm afraid they are."
"Where are we going?" Harry asked curiously, peering at the fire. "And how are we going to get there?"
"We're going to Hogwarts," Sirius told him. "And where using Floo Powder."
"What's—"
"I'll show you," Remus said, walking into the room. "Watch me."
He took a pinch of glittering powder, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.
With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher that Remus, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Dumbledore's office!" and vanished.
"All right, you have to speak clearly, dear," Arabella said. "Just take a pinch of Floo powder, throw it into the fire, and say Dumbledore's office."
"All-all right," Harry stuttered.
"Keep your elbows tucked in, your eyes shut, don't fidget, or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace, but don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Remus," said Sirius.
Trying hard to bear all this in his mind, Harry took a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. He took a deep breath, scattered the powder in the flames, and stepped forward; the fire felt like a warm breeze; he opened his mouth and said, "Dumbledore's office."
It felt as though he was being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast—the roaring in his ears was deafening—he tried to keep his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him sick—something hard knocked against his elbow and he tucked it in tightly, still spinning—and now it felt as though cold hands were slapping his face—squinting through his glasses he saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the room beyond. He closed his eyes again wishing it would stop, and then—
He fell, face forward, onto wood floor, and felt the bridge of his glasses snap.
"Ah, Harry, there you are," an elderly looking man said kindly. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. So this was Albus Dumbledore.
Remus smiled at Harry. He reached down a snatched Harry out of the way of the fireplace. Lucky he did, because Sirius had just landed on his ends where Harry had been just seconds before.
He stood up and brushed the ashes off his robes. "Had a little trouble," he explained.
"How's freedom treating you, Sirius?" Albus Dumbledore asked.
Sirius grinned. "You can only guess, Professor," he said.
"Please call me Albus. You are no longer in school," Dumbledore said with a small smile. Harry noticed a twinkle in his blue eyes.
"Is Arabella coming?" Remus asked.
"Yeah," Sirius said, looking quizzically at the fireplace. "She should be here by n—"
He didn't finish because a frazzled looking Arabella Figg crashed into him from the fireplace.
"Could you have landed any more gracefully?" Sirius asked, pushing the woman off of him.
"I doubt it," she answered, standing up and brushing the soot off her. She bent down and helped Sirius up. Her hair was a deep black, filled with soot and ashes.
Harry held his broken glasses in his hand, temporarily blind. Someone took them out of his hand and said, "Repairo," and placed them back onto his eyes. He looked up into the laughing face of Sirius.
"Hi, Sirius," Harry said.
"Hey kid," the man replied. "This is Albus Dumbledore, if you hadn't gathered that before."
"Hello," Harry said to the man.
"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said kindly. With a wave of his hand, he conjured four chairs. Harry watched in amazement, and Sirius laughed.
Harry sat on a chair next to his laughing godfather. They were all looking at the old wizard behind the desk as if they were waiting for something.
"Can Harry stay with us until he goes to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked Dumbledore eagerly. His face was very hopeful.
Dumbledore looked at him. "He can't leave Private Drive, under any circumstances."
Sirius and Remus's heads went down.
"But," and they snapped back up. "That does not mean he has to live with his aunt and uncle."
"Then how?" Sirius asked.
"Live in my house, you big dolt!" Arabella said, sharply.
"Would you want me to?" Harry asked the witch.
She smiled. "I would love if you came and lived with me. I miss having people around the house. And cats aren't necessarily the best company."
Harry felt as if something big had been lifted from his chest. He had no idea why, either.
"Although, he must return to the Dursley's for a little while each summer," Dumbledore added sadly.
Sirius looked outraged. "You can't send him back there each summer! I won't stand for it!"
"Sirius, Sirius, it is only for a little while. It's for his protection, and surely you want him to be safe?" said Dumbledore.
"Fine," Sirius sighed.
"Don't lose your temper, Padfoot," Remus muttered. Sirius glared at him.
"I won't," he growled.
Harry liked the feeling that someone cared for him as much as Sirius did. He barely even knew the man, but he felt a special bond between them.
"Arabella," Dumbledore said. The woman looked at him with a raised brow. "Would you give Remus, Sirius and I some time to discuss important matters?"
"Yeah, sure," Arabella answered.
"And you wouldn't mind taking young Harry, here, would you?"
"Of course not," she answered with a small smile. "It would be my pleasure."
Harry stood and followed Arabella out of the office, looking at his godfather longingly.
"Don't worry, kid," Sirius said. "I'll show you some of the coolest places in Hogwarts later."
The boy nodded. Once out in the corridor, he took a good look around.
"I went to Hogwarts here, also. I was a Ravenclaw. I'm sure Sirius told you about the four Houses, right?" Harry nodded. "Lucky I wasn't too ambitious, or I would have been in Slytherin and gotten pranked by the Marauders too many times."
She laughed and walked down a corridor. The moving portraits amazed Harry, but his godfather had told him a story about one of them once and Harry wasn't too surprised and he had seen the Daily Prophet with its moving photographs.
Sirius also told him about the moving staircases. Harry hadn't believed him until he and Arabella reached them. He told this to her.
After a few flights of stairs, they bumped into two students.
"Sorry," one of them apologized. They both had flaming red hair, and they looked like twins.
"I'm Fred," the other introduced, "and he's—"
"George," the boy said.
"I'm Harry," the boy-who-lived told them. Arabella smiled.
"He's going to school here next year," she told the two.
"Great," the boys said simultaneously. One of them, George, peered at Harry.
"Fred, I reckon he's Harry Potter!" George told his twin.
Fred whistled. "Wow. So you're Harry Potter."
"Oh him," Harry said, "I mean I'm Harry Potter."
Arabella laughed. "Come on, Harry. Let's let these two boys get back to their classes," she said.
"See you, Harry—" Fred said.
"In a few months," George finished. They waved goodbye and walked off to another class.
"Well, at least you'll know someone next year," Arabella said.
Harry nodded. And they continued their walk. They walked for a little while until someone tapped Harry's back. He turned sharply, but there was no one there.
"Weird," he muttered.
He knew that the same thing had happened to Arabella, because she stopped also.
"Ow!" she said. It looked as if an invisible hand was pulling her hair back. Her head jerked. "Ow," she said again. She turned around sharply, reached her hand out, and pulled on something. She tugged and tugged until she wrenched it free of someone's hands. Harry saw silvery fabric in her hands. Sirius and Remus stood right there laughing loudly.
"That wasn't funny," Arabella scolded.
"Yes it was," Remus said, roaring with laughter. Sirius pulled Harry into his arms.
"Harry's taking it quite well, 'Bella, you could learn from him," he told the witch.
"You only tapped his back!" she said, exasperatedly.
"And what happened to you?" Remus asked, smirking.
"Oh, Remus Lupin, I thought you were a reasonable man! I didn't think you'd sink down to Sirius's level!" Arabella said.
"Sink down to what level? My level? I don't have a level!" argued Sirius.
Arabella's eyes changed to a very cold blue. "Why do you even have an Invisibility Cloak?"
"It was James's," Sirius said, his voice softening.
"Oh," Arabella softened also.
"Albus said that Harry was to have it," said Remus. He took it out of Arabella's hands and gave it to Harry.
"That, Harry," Sirius started, "Is an Invisibility Cloak. It belonged to your dad."
Authors note: I would really appreciate some reviews. The last review I got was for when this fic was not revised. I don't know whether people like it or not because I haven't gotten any reviews. If you honestly like it, you could tell me, because I am getting really discouraged.
I know people may not like Arabella as a witch, but I was wondering if I should make this story an Arabella/Remus or Arabella/Sirius. I want to make it also a romance because what does every story need? (A good plot—a little voice says in my head—shut up.)