Disclaimer: Hehe, if I owned it Ron and Hermy woulda admitted their undying love in a very public, soap opera-esque way along time ago.

Chapter Five: Back Into the Swing of Things

"Life is the game that must be played, this truth at least, good friends, we know; so live and laugh, nor be dismayed as one by one the phantoms go."

- Edwin Arlington Robinson

"So. Harry. Shopping?"

As the glowing embers of the emerald fire died down, Harry's godfather slung an arm around his shoulders, giving him a gentle squeeze.

He turned to face the older man.

"Sure, Sirius, why not?"

"Why not indeed. What do you need?"

Harry shrugged, glancing over at Anna who had an unreadable smirk on her face.

"He is in desperate need of clothes, Si," she cut in. "But I don't know if I would trust you to buy them. You don't exactly have the most up-to-date fashion sense."

Harry looked on amusedly as Sirius's eyes narrowed, a snarl appearing on his face. "Hey! I've been dead and/or incarcerated for the last fifteen years. Not my fault if I'm a little out of date. Hard to keep up with the times when you're in prison."

Anna nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Okay, Sirius. Just take Tonks with you."

Sirius's brow furrowed. "Why can't you come?"

Anna glared at Sirius in a manner that seemed to Harry to be quite irate. "Because, Siri darling, I'm still not allowed out of this house."

Sirius nodded, and seemed to be contemplating something rather closely. "Not allowed out at all? Even in your Animagus?"

Anna shook her head. "Too risky."

"Even if we Glamoured you up a bit?"

Anna considered this for a moment, then turned to Remus who had been listening to the conversation carefully.

"Well, Remus? You're the resident Voice of Reason here, now 'Mione's gone. What do you think?"

Remus, in turn, mulled over the idea for a minute. "If you were extremely, extremely careful, I don't see why not."

Anna whopped and punched her fist into the air. "Yes! I haven't been outside in ages. Not since..." she faltered for a moment, smiling sadly. "Not since your funeral."

Sirius nodded morosely and smiled wanly at Anna across the table. "Well, it's settled then. How do you feel about blonde hair?"

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Forty minutes later, Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and a tall, attractive blonde woman with dark brown, unreadable eyes entered the Leaky Cauldron to gasps and shrieks.

One woman even fell off her stool.

Behind the bar, Tom dropped the mug he was cleaning and cried out, his eyes as wide as galleons, "Sirius Black!"

Harsh whispers ran around the room, and some even pulled out their wands.

But Harry, his eyes narrowing, stepped out from behind Sirius and in front of his godfather protectively, facing the crowd.

There was a collective gasp.

"This man is no murderer," the teen spoke clearly. "His name was cleared when Peter Pettigrew was discovered. He is a hero, and you should all be apologising to him for thinking him anything but. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some shopping to do."

And with that, he rose his chin defiantly and stared down every patron in the room, before grabbing hold of Sirius's wrist and pulling him out of the pub and into the little courtyard behind.

"Woah," was all that Sirius was able to say.

Anna (under the alias, 'Jennifer') nodded. "Harry's had to deal with a lot of unwanted attention from the press the last few months. He's gotten quite good at brushing them off."

Remus chuckled as he tapped the brick wall with his wand. "Or telling them to piss off."

Harry sighed. "Yes, and in about thirty seconds, every newspaper in Wizarding Britain is going to know every minute detail of what happened in there. And in about thirty minutes, we're going to be bombarded with reporters. And tomorrow, we're going to be on the cover of every newspaper and magazine possible." Harry rubbed his face with his palm. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Nonsense," Anna muttered, as they trudged into a crowded Diagon Alley. "You're godfather has been dead for the past nine months, and before that a fugitive. Let's do some bloody shopping."

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Lunchtime found the four shoppers sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, both Harry and Sirius devouring Double-Choc Cherry Swirl Sundae's, Remus content with his Banana Split and Anna delicately eating her Melon Frangipani Gelato.

They had been shopping all morning, buying Harry new Muggle and Wizarding clothes alike, dress robes, a watch, books, two pairs of shoes and (despite Harry's ardent protests) a set of his own Quidditch balls and equipment.

Quite a good haul, considering the entire time they had been bombarded by adoring public and reporters.

"So," Harry murmured, licking the ice cream off his spoon, "What now?"

"Well," Remus answered, giving Sirius a pointed look, "I think Sirius needs to go to the Ministry to clear this whole thing up."

Anna nodded. "Me and Harry should get back. "She shifted her eyes from her ice cream to gaze warily around the street. "I wouldn't be surprised if our little shopping spree was reported on the wireless this morning, and we don't want to accidentally bump into a Death Eater."

"Yes," Remus agreed, pulling out a small quill from his coat pocket. "How about you two take the Portkey home, and we'll go on to the Ministry."

Sirius stood up with Anna and Harry, placing his hand on the young man's forearm. "Harry, I'm going to get custody of you. When I come back, we'll be family."

Harry smiled happily and pulled his godfather into a warm hug. "You've always been my family, Sirius."

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"Hi, I'm Sirius Black and I would like to see the Minister."

Sirius grinned at a horrified Percy Weasley, who was still acting as the Junior Assistant to Cornelius Fudge, although he had reconciled with his family.

Presently, the young Weasley was gaping like a fish, staring blankly at Sirius's beaming face.

"Uh... um.... er... that is, do you have an appointment?"

Sirius crooked an eyebrow. "Do I need one?"

Percy chuckled nervously. "Not you, I don't think so. Please, wait one moment, Mr Black."

"Well," Sirius commented dryly as Percy hurried off to the Ministers office. "At least he found his manners. When did he come back to the Weasleys?"

"Summer after Harry's 5th year," Remus confirmed. "Molly and Arthur forgave him the minute he walked in the door, of course, but the boys and Ginny took a little longer to forgive and forget, particularly Ron. I think when they were children Percy and Ron were quite close, and after the letter Percy sent Ron about Harry – "

Sirius growled. "Yes, I heard all about that."

"– Ron was quite hesitant to forgive him. You know how loyal Ron is."

Sirius nodded dumbly as a very flustered-looking Percy returned.

"He'll see you now," he said, adjusting the frames of his horn-rimmed glasses.

Remus and Sirius followed Percy into a lush, thick carpeted, mahogany walled room that smelled of spice and cigar. Behind a grand desk paced Cornelius Fudge, his face red and his hands fiddling with the hem of his sleeve. He turned towards them as Percy took a seat, quill and parchment in hand.

"Mr Black, Mr Lupin, take a seat."

"I think I'd rather stand," Sirius commented wryly, as Remus sank gratefully into the hard backed chair.

Fudge waved off Sirius's rudeness with an impatient gesture. "Very well. I must say, I'm rather curious as to why you're here. Alive."

A hard look passed across Sirius's face. "We all are. But the fact of the matter is, I am alive. And innocent. As I'm told you've realised, rather belatedly."

The portly Minister nodded, at a loss for words. "Well," he mumbled finally, "we all make mistakes."

"Mistakes that cost twelve years of an innocent man's life?" Remus inquired gratingly. "I do hope you don't make such mistakes too often."

Fudge bristled. "I do recall, Mr Lupin, offering a large sum of money to the memory of this man, and you – "

"Told you to shove it," Remus interjected. "Yes I did."

There was a small, barely audible snort from the corner where Percy sat, recording their every word.

"Quite rightly," Sirius said, his hand resting on Remus's shoulder. "But that is not why we're here. Yes, I'm alive, and yes, I'm innocent. I'm here to request, no, to demand the custody of Harry Potter."

There was a sharp silence.

Finally, Fudge spoke. "And the boy, he wants this?"

Remus stood up abruptly. "I'll vouch for that. Being with Sirius is what Harry's wanted for almost three years. There is... nothing else he would wish for."

"I'll second that," Percy said quietly from his corner, causing Sirius to make an odd grunt in the back of his throat. "I've seen Harry talk about you, Sirius. It's as if his father has come back to life. You'd have to be blind not to see it."

A quick flash of anger flicked through Fudge's eyes, and Sirius got the distinct impression Percy would be paying for that comment in the future.

"Very well. You can have custody of Potter." He waved his wand, and a small pile of papers appeared on the desk in front of Sirius. "You'll need to sign these. And you two as well," he said, pointing at Remus and Percy.

Sirius smiled briefly and picked up the quill.

Once the papers were signed, an odd, calculating look crossed Fudge's face.

"You must understand, Sirius," he said, laying delicate emphasise on Sirius's name, "that we at the Ministry are extremely sorry for your imprisonment. It should never have happened. I would like to offer you and Order of Merlin, first class, and the sum of five thousand galleons in compensation for the years you lost."

A feral look of pure anger took over Sirius's features. He took the back of his chair in a deathlike grip. "You think that will make up the years I lost, Fudge? My life was taken away from me, and you think that throwing some money and an award my way will make everything better? You have no idea, no idea of what I've lost. I didn't get to watch Harry grow up. I didn't get to be young. I didn't get to fall in love. I didn't get to start a family."

He laughed bitterly.

"Ironically, it's because of all this shit that I've met the love of my life, so I guess I can thank you for that. But I don't want your money. I don't want anything from you."

Remus placed a comforting hand on Sirius's forearm.

"Donate it," he finally muttered. "Give it to St Mungo's or an orphanage or something. And I don't want the Order, either. Save your meaningless crap for Lucius Malfoy, or the next Death Eater you're blind enough to ally yourself with. Good day, Percy."

And with that, he strode out the door.


A/N: Oh my god. I am SO, SO, SO, SO, SORRY about how long this took. I know you won't want excuses, but I had my yearly and trail exams all last week, then I just wanted to rest for a while and then I got completely stuck on this chapter. Took me SO long to get back into this story. But from here on out, I should be ok. I got my government exams coming up, they'll be really easy, and then I'm in Melbourne for a couple of weeks visiting my Dad's, but I can write while I'm down there and then just do a massive post when I get back.

Once again, I'm so sorry!

Thankyou for all your encouraging reviews, the kept me from just giving up. I love you all!

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Hope you all liked this chapter.

Love Katie.