Orion grinned as his friends from his new playgroup came into Lily's house. Because Lily's house was so big there was plenty of space for all the children. Emma and Rhia had their friend Kara around. Kara was the same height as the girls, had a really weird sense of humour...just as weird as Emma and Rhia. She had fairly long blond hair that had a few streaks of brown on the underside. Her eyes glittered blue. She was the typical English girl, only thing was that she lived in Wales and had a slightly welsh accent. The three girls were sitting in the living room on the sofa facing each other and playing some hand game they usually played in the school playgrounds. Lily and James had gone through every single room and put charms on the photos to stop them from moving. Anything that looked out of the ordinary was put in Lily and James' room. The two owls they owned had been told to stay out of the house for the day. The owls had nestled in a tree at the end of what could be called the back garden but really, the garden didn't actually end.
Orion and his friends were running around chasing James. Harry and Bo were sulking over the fact that they couldn't play on their broomsticks but found some consolation when James fell into a hole that Harry had forgotten to fill in from last year. That got everyone laughing.
"And you're supposed to be an Auror." Jenny mused as James climbed out of the hole trying to cling onto his pride. Lily had shaken her head and went inside to check on the girls. She went into the living room where the girls were chanting and clapping hands.
"High low chickalow, chikalow, high low chickalow, chickalow high." They sang. Lily watched Kara. There was something about that young girl that didn't seem right. She didn't seem to be like all the other Muggle children. If Lily had been able to make any guess at all, she'd say that Kara was slightly magical but it wasn't to Lily to think that kind of thing. If anything, Minerva McGonagall would know. She was responsible for getting out the letters to the students who were going to go to Hogwarts. Lily snapped to attention, that was another six years for Emma, Rhia and possibly Kara. Lily, in the mean while had to keep her mind focused on Orion's party. There was a knock at the door. Lily went to the front door and opened it. April stood in the doorway. Lily smiled. No point in holding a grudge against her today.
"Come in April." Lily said with a smile. April beamed at her and gave Lily a hug. Lily laughed.
"You're not angry with me?" April asked.
"Nope, not at all, well yes a bit" Lily said, "But it's Orion's birthday." Lily said. April grinned and kissed Lily's cheek.
"You're brilliant." April said. Lily smiled, April seemed ok. Someone cleared their throat from the door. Lily's smile fell and she bit her lip. April's smile faltered. Sirius stood in the doorway looking rather humble. He glanced at April nervously.
"Hi." He said. Remus appeared behind him.
"Hi." April said with a strained voice. Lily and April moved aside to let them in. Remus gave Lily a hopeful look.
"Well, how are you April?" Sirius asked as he took off his jacket.
"I was ok until you came." April said. She looked at Lily with a look that said she wanted to talk afterwards. "You?"
"Well I could be better but you're stopping me from doing that" Sirius said with a slight sneer. April rolled her eyes and turned to Lily.
"Come on, April I need to show you something." Lily said, leading April up the stairs. They went into Lily's bedroom and closed the door.
"What's Sirius doing here?"
"It was James' idea. He wants Orion to have both his parents at his party." Lily said. April took a sharp breath. The last person she wanted to see was Sirius, she could feel her temper rising with him just being there.
"I suppose." April said. "He's just been annoying me so much."
"Well, to tell you the truth, he's been passed out most of the week." Lily said, "We've been taking it in turns to check up on him."
"Figures, when things get tough, turn to the beloved bottle of Fire Whiskey." April said.
"April." Lily said in a stern tone.
"Sorry Lily but I'm telling the truth" April said. She sighed and sat on the bed. Lily smiled and sat next to April.
"Just tough it out for a few hours, then scream and shout all you want." Lily said lightly. April smiled at her.
"You are too nice." April said. Lily smiled.
"I just have a long patience, now, lets go and see your son shall we?"
"Only if my good for nothing husband isn't there as well" April said bitterly. Lily took April's hand.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you."
The party had been ok. April and Sirius simply stayed in different rooms. When the passed each other in the halls they ignored each other. It amazed Lily and the others how cold they were being to each other. Orion had been delighted to see Sirius, as was Rhia. Rhia stuck with Sirius for pretty much the whole evening, making Lily grateful that she'd invited Kara. James had made April go insane when he presented Orion with a toy lightsaber, that made all the noises and came with a little Jedi outfit. At that James and April had a mock brawl, mainly for the entertainment of the children. After that Orion and a few of his friends decided to play Star wars, with Orion as Luke Skywalker.
Dinner was a very painful and awkward affair. The conversation was polite and no one knew exactly what to say. The children were all eating in the living room because the kitchen table wasn't big enough. The only children in the room were Kaylee and Jessie, both of which seemed to find it fun to throw their dinners at the adults. But towards the end of the dinner, their heads were beginning to loll slightly as they fell asleep in their high chairs.
"So, what are the plans for tomorrow?" Jenny said hesitantly. "It's Sunday after all."
"I was planning on staying in, having a lie in." James said looking at Lily fondly. Lily smiled at him.
"I'm with him on that." Lily said.
"You two are so tactful." April muttered as she ate. She was sitting opposite Sirius, much to her disgust, but it was that or sit next to him. Each one had one of the twins sitting next to them.
"Oh, sorry." Lily said.
"She's just upset she's not getting any." Sirius said. April looked up at him dangerously. The others all seemed to cringe slightly.
"Excuse me?" April asked, "You think I'm upset because of that?"
"Why else would you be upset about Lily and James having some romance in their life." Sirius asked, putting his cutlery down.
"I'm not upset by that, I was just saying they were making it obvious what they were going to do tonight."
"All right, moving on." James said.
"Yes, right on" Remus agreed.
"Oh please April." Sirius said, "You're upset you don't have the perfect life."
"I am not upset because of it. I'm upset because you, Sirius Black, are an arrogant, lazy good for nothing!" April said. Jenny covered her eyes with her hand as she sighed. Lily put her head in her hands while James and Remus leant back in their chair. No point eating now.
"I stay at home to look after the children, that's more then you want to do with them" Sirius said.
"Oh I'm sorry if this family needs money!" April said. "But I don't see you trying to make some."
"Probably because you won't give me the chance to?" Sirius said patronisingly.
"Oh no." Jenny muttered. April got up to her feet and left the room.
"WHAT! TOO CHICKEN TO FACE ME!" Sirius shouted after her.
"Sirius!" James hissed at him. April re-entered the room.
"Excuse me Sirius?" April asked. Sirius got to his feet.
"Are you too chicken to even have an argument with me? It's the first time you're running away from an argument." Sirius said. April's eyes seemed to flare with anger.
"It's late and the children should be getting to bed. If you were any sort of father you'd know that!" April said.
"Well I'm not allowed in the house, and I highly doubt you'll let me take the children back to my house, so why should I care?" Sirius said sitting down and crossing his arms. April let out a scream of frustration as she left the room. All the adults were silent.
"Rhia, Orion, get ready to go." April said.
"No, stay here with Daddy!" Rhia said. She ran into the dinning room and jumped on Sirius' lap.
"Rhia!" April said following her into the room. Orion came in as well, still bedecked in his Jedi clothes. "You are coming home." Rhia looked like she was going to cry as she clung to Sirius.
"No, stay with Daddy." Rhia said. She looked at Sirius, "Daddy, can you come home?" She asked. Sirius sighed,
"Sorry darling, I can't. Your mother won't let me." Sirius said bitterly. "And I would let you come to my house but your mum won't let you."
"Go to Daddy's house" Rhia said looking at April hopefully. Jenny, Lily, Remus and James weren't saying anything. They weren't going to get involved in this family dispute. April closed her eyes.
"Fine, whatever. She has to be back by tomorrow night." April said. She picked up Jessie then picked up Kaylee. "And no later then seven." She said. Rhia beamed and sat on Sirius' lap. Sirius' arms around his young daughter.
"Can I stay wiv Daddy too?" Orion asked. April looked ready to burst. They could all tell she wanted to say no but it was Orion's birthday.
"Alright," April said with a strained voice. Orion grinned and went to Sirius and bowed. Sirius chuckled and tried to bow back. "I hope you're happy." April said to Sirius.
"Very." Sirius replied. April left with the twins. Rhia grinned broadly up at her dad as she sat on his lap. "Sorry about that guys." He said to the others.
"No, it's fine." Jenny said in a strained voice.
"Please get back together with her!" Lily said. "Please, she's so depressed without you around and I can't stand her being like that and-" Sirius held up a hand for Lily to be quiet.
"Please Lily, I know what I'm going to do. It came to me in a dream" Sirius said.
"Oh Merlin, here we go again." Remus muttered. James chuckled and Jenny turned and smiled at Remus.
"I am going to get-" Sirius said, pausing dramatically
"Divorced" Remus muttered, "You've told me already." Sirius turned to Remus.
"Yes, I will be getting that but there's something else." Sirius said.
"And what's that Sirius?" James asked, leaning forwards. Lily's hand was playing with the back of his hair. Jenny was raising a glass to his lips and Emma had just run in and wanting to sit on Remus' lap.
"I'm getting a job" Sirius announced proudly. Jenny choked on her drink while Remus dropped Emma and Lily accidentally pulled on James' hair.
"What!" They all asked at the same time. Sirius beamed proudly. They all looked at him like he'd gone mad. Sirius Black, get a job? What was the world coming to? Sirius would never be able to get a job and keep with it for more then a month before he got bored and then quit. The four told him this and he looked at them defiantly.
"I'm getting a job. When Remus was off getting us some butterbeers at the Leaky Cauldron, I bumped into this guy, Raynor Philips, he owns the Holyhead Harpies. They're looking for a new coach, and most of the coaches can't stand the fact that he girls on the team are so...powerful. Then he met me and we got talking. He's heard of April, apparently hers and James' reputations are bigger then I thought, anyway, I've been pretty much dominated by April for a while so I told him I could cope. The pay is good, hours are flexible, and kids are allowed to work." Sirius beamed. "Oh yeah, and free tickets to the matches and the world cup because their chaser, Mary Harton, is on the English team." Sirius said.
"You're becoming a quidditch coach?" James said slowly. Sirius nodded eagerly.
"Of an all female team?" Remus added. Sirius grinned.
"I'm a free man now." Sirius said, but with a bit less enthusiasm. Lily looked over to Jenny. They each knew what the other was thinking. Sirius had gone mad. He wouldn't have done this if April hadn't decided to divorce him. On the other hand, maybe it was a good idea, at least Sirius was doing...something, even if it was to coach the Holyhead Harpies. That was definitely not going to sit well with April.
"Well, as long as you're happy Sirius." Jenny said. "But the Holyhead Harpies? Are you sure?"
"Firstly, Jenny my dearest." Sirius said, "I will never be happy, secondly, why not!" Rhia laughed at Sirius' last outburst and Sirius grinned at her. Orion climbed onto James' lap without any warning. Lily smiled at James and Orion waved his new lightsaber around and knocked over a glass of muggle wine that James had asked Lily to buy.
"Orion!" Jenny said in alarm as Lily started to get up.
"It's ok." Lily said, she lifted everything and saw the wine soak through the tablecloth. "Evanesco!" The wine stain suddenly disappeared.
"Oo, more magic." Orion said. He got ready to hit over another glass when Lily caught hold of the lightsaber to stop Orion.
"AH!" She said letting go of it quickly. "Damn, that thing is really hot!" James gave Lily a grin as she waved her hand to cool off the burn she'd just received.
"Well, I thought Orion might like an authentic present." James said, "Don't you like it Orion?"
"Love it" Orion said with a grin. Lily nursed her hand and hit James round the head with her unhurt hand. James gave a light hearted chuckle, as did everyone else. Rhia soon broke out into a wide yawn and snuggled against Sirius and closed her eyes.
"Well, I think I'd better get going. I'm going to start doing up Grimmauld Place to make it look less Black and more happy." Sirius said. He picked up Rhia in his arms.
"Alright, we'll see you sometime soon." James said getting up and giving Sirius a quick hug.
"No more drink!" Remus warned Sirius as he started to leave the room.
"Don't worry Moony, no more drink for me. You've opened up my eyes." Sirius said.
"That sounds too wrong." Jenny said shaking her head. James laughed and heard Sirius shouting the address he wanted to go to from the fireplace in the other room.
"Well that dinner went...ok." Remus said uncertainly.
"It was fine until April and Sirius started biting off each other's heads." James said, he stretched and put his hands behind his head. Lily gave a slight hiss of pain as she did something to the burn in her hand. James looked at her with a look of concern. "Are you ok?" James asked, he looked ready to get up. Lily walked over to James and snaked her arms around him.
"I will be, no thanks to you." Lily said. James looked at Lily with doleful eyes, he pulled her around and onto his lap.
"What did I do?" James asked. Jenny chuckled.
"Who bought Orion the Light Saber?" Jenny asked.
"Ah." James said. Lily smiled and put an arm around James' neck and kissed the top of his forehead.
"Well, we better get going as well." Remus said. He started to get up and pulled Jenny to her feet. Jenny gave a light moan.
"Can't we stay here tonight?" Jenny asked.
"No spare bedrooms." Lily said with a sorry shrug. "Maybe when before Emma was born-"
"You need a bigger house." Jenny said, pretending to be angry.
"We're thinking of getting the loft converted" James said. Jenny nodded and turned to Remus.
"I'll take Bo home, don't worry. You just go home and sleep." Remus said.
"I love you so much." Jenny said at that remark. Remus smiled and Jenny apparated away. Remus left the kitchen in search of Bo. James seemed to take this as his cue to start kissing Lily. She giggled slightly as he began nuzzling her neck.
"James, stop it." She muttered.
"Sorry, can't." He said. Lily looked across the table and saw Emma staring at them with her eyebrows raised. Lily took James' head in her hands and practically wrenched him away. "James, not in front of the children." She said. He shrugged.
"They're going to do it one day." James concluded after a few minutes of thought.
"No they are not!" Lily said, feeling slightly offended. "Harry and Emma are going to grow up to be good children and good adults."
"Like you were?" James challenged. Lily was about to say yes but stopped herself. Damn James! Damn him to hell. Lily clapped him around the head and got off his lap. James laughing.
"Come on Emma, time to go to bed." Lily said.
"Can we read a story?" Emma asked.
"Of course darling." Lily said, taking Emma's hand.
"Can you read me one Lily?" James asked, bouncing up and down in mock excitement in his seat. Lily turned to him.
"I'll deal with you later." Lily said. James grinned.
"I can't wait." He said, the widest grin plastered across his face.
"Just put Harry to bed!" Lily said.
"Yes ma'am!" James said getting up.
"Daddy!" Rhia screamed in Sirius' ear the next morning. Sirius gave an annoyed murmur and pulled the pillow over his head. Rhia laughed and turned to Orion who grinned back. He stood up and jumped on Sirius.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Orion said jumping around in circles on Sirius' back. Each time he did Sirius gave a little "Oof"
"What!" Sirius said turning over as Orion was in the air. Orion landed on Sirius' stomach and laughed. Rhia laughed with him
"The picture of the evil lady was shouting at us." Rhia said with a slight pout. "Destroy!" Rhia said.
"YEAH!" Orion agreed. "Destroy!" Orion said raising his hand. Rhia grinned.
"Huh?" Sirius asked sleepily as Rhia and Orion climbed off the bed and seemed to war dance around the room "What the-" Sirius sat up and watched his two eldest walk around the room chanting.
"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" They chanted.
"What have you two been eating?" Sirius asked as he pulled Rhia up onto the bed. She laughed.
"The strange creature gave us a blue drink" Rhia said with a grin.
"Oh no." Sirius said. "KREACHER!" He shouted. The door opened and the old house elf came in muttering. Orion gave a shout and ran to the desk and hid under it, glaring at the house elf. Rhia grinned and pulled herself away from Sirius and went to the house elf. The elf came to her shoulders and she held out her hand.
"Hello, I'm Rhia." She said. The house elf merely stared at her rather unamused.
"Stupid blood traitor brats thinking she is better then Kreacher." The house elf muttered. Rhia gave him a look of confusion.
"Blood traitor brat? Nooo." Rhia said shaking her head. "Daddy's brat" She said brightly. Orion laughed from under the desk and Rhia looked at Orion and grinned.
"Rhia." Sirius said, "Kreacher, what did you feed my children?"
"Oh, they is your children? Kreacher is very sorry, Kreacher is thinking that they were strangers." Kreacher said. Sirius got out of the bed and picked up Kreacher by the neck.
"Kreacher, you know very well they were my children, what did you give them?" Sirius demanded.
"Destroy HIM!!" Orion shouted. Rhia laughed and started waving her fists. Sirius dodged out of his children's way and glared at Kreacher. He was chuckling slightly as Rhia and Orion went around waving their fists.
"It will be over in an hour sir. Kreacher is only giving them a potion Master Regulus made many years ago. He was a proper master to Kreacher, unlike you blood Traitor." Kreacher said. He didn't get to say much more as Sirius flung him against the wall.
"Orion, Rhia." Sirius said. Both children turned to look at their dad.
"Yes Daddy." Rhia said sweetly, she tucked her hands behind her back and seemed to twist on the balls of her feet.
"Stay in this room." Sirius said. He watched as Kreacher inched his way out of the room.
"We watch Star Wars?" Orion said eagerly.
"No, we can't." Sirius said. Orion's face fell.
"Why?"
"No TV idiot!" Rhia said clapping Orion round the head
"Don't hit me." Rhia hit Orion on the arm. "Stop it!" She hit him again. Orion seemed to growl at Rhia and she was equal to the growl.
"Oh Merlin." Sirius muttered. He managed to get a child under each arm as they started fighting across him trying to reach each other.
"Don't hit me!" Orion snapped. Rhia would then grin.
"Children stop or do you want me to take you back to your mother?" Sirius said. Both children went silent. Sirius felt a sharp pain at his heart when he thought about April. No, push all thoughts of April to the back of the mind, concentrate on the children, get a job, fix up the house. That's what he had to do. Don't think about April.
"Sorry Daddy." Rhia said,
"Sorry." Orion said. Rhia hugged Sirius around the waist from her hanging position on his arms while Orion just decided to be a dead weight. Sirius couldn't hold them any more and Orion dropped to the floor. He grinned and stood up.
"So watch Superman?" He asked.
"No TV!" Rhia said.
"TV good." Orion said.
"But we don't have one here." Sirius said. Orion's mouth dropped open and he looked like he could faint. Rhia shook her head and Sirius put her down on the bed and crouched by Orion.
"No TV?" He asked.
"No Orion, but don't worry. As soon as I'm ready, we'll go to a quidditch pitch and watch a quidditch match ok?" Sirius asked. Rhia beamed at this but Orion looked a bit sceptical. "And then we'll...um..." Sirius looked at Rhia, but like the four year old could help him out. He looked around the room frantically for an idea. "Then we'll do what you want as long as it's not watching star wars or TV because there isn't a TV."
"Go home then." Orion said with a babyish pout. Sirius sighed and hung his head slightly.
"You want to go home?" Sirius asked. Orion nodded. He looked over to Rhia.
"Do you want to go home?" Sirius asked her. Rhia shook her head.
"No. I want to stay with Daddy forever." She said with a smile.
"Alright, well, we'll take you home Orion and then Rhia and I will go out. Ok?" He asked Orion. Orion nodded and looked a bit happier. Sirius got a feeling that Orion didn't really like Grimmauld place. Well, why should he when Sirius himself loathed it? He got up and looked at the children.
"Ok, you two go and play for a bit while Daddy gets changed." Sirius said.
April threw her spoon into the sink. Why was she so anxious? Sirius could be trusted with the children couldn't he? It's not like she knew where he was anyway, or what he was going to do. He had forgotten the kids before. A feeling of dread fell over April and she went white. She could hear Jessie and Kaylee laughing in the living room where they were throwing foam bricks at each other. They had been some of Orion's old toys. Foam bricks that you could stack but they didn't hurt you. April used to use them as stress balls when Sirius frustrated her. She let out a shaky breath and went into the living room and lay on the sofa and watched the twins throw these foam bricks at each other. They were laughing, which was a good thing.
"Kaylee, Jessie." April said. The two twins looked at her and grinned. Jessie started crawling towards her and stopped at the sofa and looked at the sofa. How to get over this thing to mummy...
April smiled and picked up Jessie. She grinned and then cuddled against April. Kaylee decided that April was boring so she went crawling around the room and soon disappeared in the gap between the sofa and the wall. The fireplace suddenly exploded into flames and Orion stepped out, sooty faced.
"Hello Mummy." He said beaming. April was breathing quickly.
"Come here." April said. Orion ran over and hugged April. He climbed onto the sofa and started making marks in the soot on his face. A few seconds later Sirius and Rhia came through the fireplace.
"What are you doing here?" April asked.
"Just to tell you that you can have your son back. Apparently he prefers..." Sirius took a sharp breath. "He prefers you to me." He said.
"And where are you going?" April asked.
"I'm taking Rhia to work with me. It'll be a good experience for her." Sirius said defiantly.
"Work?" April asked like he was joking.
"Yes. I have a job." Sirius said coldly. April tried not to laugh. Sirius working, was this a joke? Sirius tensed and straightened his back.
"Come on Rhia. I'll show you what I do now." Sirius said, turning back to the fireplace. Rhia gave April a wave before disappearing after Sirius. April sat, mouth open. What just happened? Sirius had a job and he'd taken Rhia!
"Holy-"
A/N:-And thus, we learn that Rhia is a daddy's girl, and Orion is a mummy's boy. Rhia prefers Sirius over April, Orion is vice versa. I just finished writing this storyline and I'm working ont eh next on, which should be about....4 years after this, when HArry's about 9 or 10..havent decided yet...why fo Kaylee and Jessie still have to be so damned young!! The next chapter will be set a month after this. Oh and Spillgirl, just chill, i was just joking, i'm not angry with you, but your reaction was funny....:D You know i love you and all my reviewers....If i can get to 312 reviews...I'll do a double update though knowing Kaylee she'll keep reviewing...and reviewing....and reviewing.....and reviewing, until she herself has given me all the reviews i want. So yeah, 312 reviews, and i give you a double update :D