Consequences
By Neurotica
Eighteen
Christmas Eve morning started out as normal a day as possible in Number Twelve. No owls about Death Eaters attacking innocents had come in, no screams of terror were heard from Remus or Harry, and the house in general seemed full of Christmas spirit.
While Molly prepared breakfast, Sirius began to gather things from the pantry for dinner that night. He'd just pulled out a large honey ham from the icebox when Harry walked in. The boy was still in his pajamas, his hair still messy from sleep, but he looked wide-awake and actually a bit nervous.
Godfather and godson looked at each other for long moments at a loss for words, as if they were complete strangers. Harry looked as though he desperately wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin. Sirius waited patiently.
"So..." Harry began awkwardly. "Christmas dinner, eh?" he said, gesturing to the ham in Sirius' hands.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, Molly's making just about everything in the house."
"Should be good..." Harry cleared his throat and looked over his shoulder into the kitchen. He ruffled his hair a bit and tried again. "Listen, Sirius..." He sighed. Sirius raised an eyebrow in question. "Um, I'm sorry. You know, about what I said on Halloween. I didn't mean it... I mean, I know you're not my real father, but you're as good as it, and—"
Harry's words were cut off when Sirius dropped the ham back into the icebox and pulled Harry into a nearly bone-crushing hug. Harry returned it with the same enthusiasm.
"Forget about it, kid," Sirius said, his voice muffled in Harry's hair. "We were both pretty stressed that night. I'm sorry, too."
After a few moments, Sirius kissed the top of Harry's head and pulled away, wiping at his eyes gruffly. "Too much dust in here," he muttered. "Here, help me with this ham." Harry laughed and accepted said ham, leading the way out of the pantry and into the kitchen.
"So," Sirius said, "Draco Malfoy makes a good ferret, I hear."
Harry laughed loudly, attracting Remus' attention from his conversation with Arthur and Emmeline. The werewolf smiled broadly at the abrupt change in attitude of his family members. Sirius sent him a wink and continued gathering things for dinner.
Later that night, a Christmas party was in progress in Number Twelve's kitchen. Most of the Order had turned up, as had Andromeda and Ted Tonks. Much to their daughter's relief, they'd gotten along wonderfully with Kingsley Shacklebolt and thought he was a great match for her. They said Kingsley reminded them of both Sirius and Remus—he had Sirius' sense of humor and Remus' intellect and sensibility.
The atmosphere of Number Twelve had greatly improved with Remus' return a month ago, but nothing had put the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black in a better mood than having Sirius and Harry finally speaking again. If one had entered the kitchen that night, they never would have known there was a war going on in the wizarding world; every face in the kitchen had a smile on it. Even when the party was moved from the basement to the upstairs library, and Tonks accidentally set off Mrs. Black, no one complained; they all laughed at Sirius' mother's insults and went on their way.
Up in the library, Harry and Ron set up a wizarding wireless for entertainment, and Sirius opened a few bottles of champagne. Remus was leaning against a desk, watching the festivities, when Fred very innocently pointed out that there was mistletoe above his head. He looked up and blinked as a snowflake fell into his eyeball. Somebody (and Remus had a very good idea who—Sirius and Harry were grinning at him from the other side of the room) had charmed the mistletoe to snow on its victims. He was willing to bet that said mistletoe would follow him everywhere he went. He took a step to the left, and then quickly back to the right. His assumption was correct, and there was only one way to get the charmed mistletoe to go away.
He glared at his family, even started plotting revenge, when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Emmeline coming towards him. He turned towards her, and without any warning, she pulled him towards her by the collar of his shirt, giving him a long, tender kiss. When they reluctantly pulled away, both of them were breathing heavily, and she whispered, "I've wanted to do that since fourth year."
Sirius and Harry sat side-by-side on the library sofa that had been pushed against the wall for the party, sipping champagne and butterbeer, respectively.
"It's about damn time," Sirius muttered with a grin, watching Remus and Emmeline slow dance beside Molly and Arthur, Tonks and Kingsley, and Andromeda and Ted. Harry murmured his agreement. "So what about you, kid? Any young witch striking your fancy?"
Harry blushed a bit and took a sip of his butterbeer. "I don't know. Tonks isn't bad looking."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "First of all, Tonks' appearance changes daily, sometimes hourly. Secondly, I'm pretty sure she and Kingsley are together."
Harry shrugged. "You asked," he said, staring out into the party.
"Come on, Harry," Sirius said, nudging the boy's shoulder. "You've already told me about someone..."
Harry winced. "You remember that, huh?"
"It wasn't that long ago and I'm not that bloody old," Sirius said flatly.
Harry rolled his eyes and leaned up to whisper something in his godfather's ear.
"Really?" Sirius said thoughtfully. "Makes sense... Seems to run in the family, too..."
Harry blushed deeper and tried to disappear into the sofa cushion. He was sure one of the sofas in the Black house actually tried to swallow people, but unfortunately for him, it wasn't this one.
"And that's another thing," Sirius continued, "this shyness you've got going. You're going to get nowhere if you keep that up."
"Remus was shy," Harry pointed out, watching his surrogate uncle pull Emmeline closer to him as they danced.
"True, but Remus was also one of the smartest in our year. All he ever did between full moons and pranks was study, so shyness was natural. You, Harry, are a Quidditch player. Quidditch players are not shy."
"Quidditch players aren't supposed to be the saviors of the world, either."
"Do you have an answer for everything?"
"Pretty much, yeah." Harry smirked. "I was raised by you, after all."
Next morning, Christmas morning, the whole of Number Twelve was gathered in the kitchen enjoying a large breakfast prepared, of course, by Molly. The children were talking animatedly to one another about what they'd received while the adults watched fondly. Remus took a sip of his coffee and looked across the table at Sirius. He felt a pang of guilt as his best friend tried to hide his disappointment. Sirius had gotten him a new wand from Ollivander's, since his had been broken to pieces in France. Remus had a present for him, but he couldn't give it to him until later in the day when Kingsley arrived. Remus had been working on getting Sirius this gift for a year, and only in the past week had he succeeded. There'd been problems with locating it, making sure it was in working condition, not to mention a lot of red tape with the Ministry... Luckily, Kingsley and Arthur had been able to help out, and finally, things were ready.
A hand softly rubbed Remus' back for a moment and he turned to his left. Emmeline smiled and grabbed a plate, sitting down beside him. "Happy Christmas," Remus said quietly with a smile.
"Happy Christmas," she replied a bit tiredly.
"I've got a gift for you, but I thought I'd give it to you in private," he said a bit anxiously.
Emmeline's eyebrows shot up as she scooped scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Really now?" she said, her lips twitching. Remus realized what his statement could have implied and started to stammer out apologies and tell her what he really meant. She only grinned and shook her head. "Calm down, Remus." She chuckled. "I've got something for you, as well."
"You didn't have to get me anything... You've already gotten me those books," he muttered awkwardly.
"Oh, please," she scoffed. "Books on Christmas...
"There's nothing wrong with giving books on Christmas," he muttered slightly defensively.
She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "Of course not."
Dumbledore arrived later in the day looking grave. He pulled Sirius and Remus away from a rather violent game of wizard's chess between Harry and George, and into the library. He informed the two younger wizards that the protections surrounding Harry's prophecy had been breached the night before. He wasn't positive how it had happened; the spells were supposed to have been unbreakable by any force, wizard or otherwise. Sirius started to grow quite angry, and Remus thought Dumbledore might leave Number Twelve with a black eye.
Remus, however, remained calm. There was something in the way Dumbledore broke the news that told him it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Sirius managed to sputter his inquiry of who had broken through the protections.
"Kreacher," Dumbledore said quietly.
Sirius blinked a few times, trying to understand exactly what Dumbledore had just said. "Kreacher," he repeated flatly. The Headmaster nodded. "How?"
"Sirius, the man just said he didn't know," Remus said quietly.
"No, that's not what I meant. I thought Kreacher was locked up somewhere he couldn't get away from. You told me that yourself, Dumbledore," Sirius said a bit heatedly.
"I do not believe Kreacher acted alone last night. Someone in the school helped him escape from the dungeon room I placed him in."
"Snape," Sirius said promptly. "No one else could have known he was there..."
Remus dropped his head into his hands and groaned while Dumbledore replied, "Severus Snape has done no such thing, Sirius. Not even he was aware of where I was keeping Kreacher. I realize how reluctant you are to trust Severus, Sirius, but I must ask you not to jump to conclusions in this matter. Remember who it was that saved Harry in August."
"I'm well aware of who saved my godson," Sirius said through gritted teeth. "But that doesn't mean that I trust Sniv—Snape. He only made the antidote because you asked him to."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "If my memory serves me correctly, Sirius," he began mildly, "it was you, not I, who asked Severus to prepare the antidote."
Sirius deflated a little and sat in an armchair.
"So there's somebody else in the school who wants to get to the prophecy," Remus said quietly. "Any idea who it may be, sir?"
"None," Dumbledore said lightly. "But the matter will not go uninvestigated. If worse comes to worst, which it may very well do, the prophecy will be destroyed. It is, after all, only a record."
"What happened to Kreacher?" Sirius asked suddenly.
"Well," Dumbledore began, "he discovered the prophecy and attempted to handle it. As you both very well know, the only persons who can handle a prophecy are those about whom it has been made. Kreacher has lost the remaining sanity he once had—" Sirius snorted an incredulous laugh. "—and is now in St. Mungo's. The Healers do not think they can save him."
Harry and the Weasleys sat in the drawing room with candy wrappers and boxes spread out around them. All of them were wearing Weasley jumpers, each with various pictures and colors—Harry's was emerald green with a golden snitch on the front.
"Anyone heard from Hermione?" Ron asked thickly through a mouth full of licorice wand.
"She sent a letter with my Christmas present," Ginny said distractedly, flipping through a book Sirius bought Harry—Great Pranksters of the Last Century. "She's coming to visit in a few days."
Ron nodded and looked away, staring pensively at the blank space the Black family tapestry once occupied. Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend and started a game of Exploding Snap with Fred. It was more than obvious that Ron fancied Hermione, especially after the Yule Ball last year. If the two of them could just stop bickering long enough—
There was a crash in the hallway. Harry and the Weasleys looked at one another and covered their ears in anticipation for what was to come. Sure enough, Mrs. Black began to screech. It didn't last more than ten seconds, thankfully, before someone closed the portrait's curtains. Harry lowered his hands from his ears and stood to peek out the door for who had entered. Tonks looked highly disgruntled with her bright red hair as Kingsley chuckled and led her down the stairs to the kitchen. Harry grinned at his friends and quickly led them down as well.
Sirius and Remus were in the middle of a chess game when Kingsley and Tonks entered the kitchen. Remus gave Kingsley a pointed look while Sirius concentrated on his next move, silently asking him if everything was ready. The black Auror nodded and winked before greeting Molly with a kiss on the cheek.
"Sirius," Remus said.
"Huh?" Sirius grunted, still concentrating on his chess pieces.
"Are you ready for your Christmas present?"
Sirius snapped his head away from the chessboard. "What Christmas present?"
Remus raised an eyebrow and grinned. "You didn't actually think I'd forgotten about you?" Apparently, Sirius had thought just that, judging by the look on his face. Remus shook his head. "There're two parts to it," Remus explained. "Now, I could have given you the first part this morning, but it would have given everything else away, and I know how much you just love surprises." Sirius grinned. "Harry, if you will..."
Sirius turned to find Harry holding a box wrapped in red with gold ribbon. "This is a joint gift from Harry and myself," Remus said while Sirius ripped apart the paper like an overeager five-year-old.
"Whoa," Sirius whispered once he'd lifted the lid off the box. "This can't... Where did you... How?"
Remus grinned again. "I found it in some old boxes," he said dismissively. Sirius looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, Kingsley and I went to your old flat and found it hanging in the closet."
Sirius laughed and tried on his old leather jacket. "Perfect fit," he muttered, rubbing the material. "Thanks, Moony."
"Don't thank me yet, mate. Check the pockets."
Sirius did, and his brow furrowed when he felt another box in the left pocket. He pulled it out—it looked like a jewelry box. Glancing at the broad smiles on Remus and Harry's faces, he opened the box. Inside was a silver key.
"No..." he breathed. "You didn't..." he added to Remus.
"It's taken a bit of time. Hagrid had it hidden away and couldn't remember where. Anyway, it's quite workable. Kingsley brought it by the other day when you were at the Ministry. I didn't try it out, though; I was never too fond of it, plus I thought you'd want to test it out first." Remus smiled.
"It's here?" Sirius asked loudly, smiling widely. Remus nodded happily. "Where?" he demanded.
"Out back," Kingsley said with his own grin. "Wouldn't have been any good for a Muggle to catch a glimpse at it, now would it?"
Sirius laughed and sprinted up the stairs two at a time. They heard the backdoor open and hit the opposite wall, and Sirius' cries of joy. Everyone in the kitchen followed him, and found the Auror sitting atop a shining black and silver motorbike. He looked like he was nineteen again, Remus thought happily as Sirius stroked the silver handlebars with tears in his eyes.
"We've added a few things to it, Sirius," Arthur called from the door. "There's now an invisibility booster for when you fancy a fly."
"Brilliant," Sirius exclaimed, still smiling widely.
"And Remus added a few charms to make sure nobody can fall off."
Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus. "Thank you, Moony!"
"You're welcome, Padfoot. We've also charmed it not to rust. When we first got it back, it wasn't looking too pretty, but you shouldn't have to worry about leaving it in the snow," Remus said.
Sirius got off the bike and rushed over to hug Remus tightly. "Thanks, mate," he said with a ruffle of his best friend's hair.
"Happy Christmas, Sirius," Remus said, pushing his friend away.
"So who wants to try this thing out with me?"
Later that night, Sirius was still out riding his bike with Harry, and Remus was working on something for Dumbledore. He and the Headmaster had come to an agreement that Remus would remain strictly on light duty for the Order for the time being. Remus thought Madam Pomfrey and Sirius had a large influence on Dumbledore's decision. Truth be told, Remus wasn't too enthusiastic about another mission any time soon. He'd had enough adventure and danger to last him the rest of his life. He knew there'd come a day that he'd have to leave Number Twelve for some sort of mission, but for now, he was more than happy with strategic plans and research.
There was a knock on his bedroom door and he called for the person to enter. He turned to find Emmeline smiling a little shyly as she closed the door behind her.
"Hi," he said with a smile.
"Hey," she replied, walking over to him. "What are you working on?"
"Dumbledore's asked me to do some more research on the werewolves in Albania," he replied.
"And you're doing this on Christmas?" she asked flatly.
He chuckled. "It's got to be done sometime, right?"
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I thought I'd bring you your gift, but seeing as how you're busy..."
"I'm never too busy for gifts," he said, setting his quill down and closing the book he was reading.
She smiled and handed him a small, long box. "I wasn't sure what to get you, so I asked Sirius what he thought. He gave me a few more inappropriate suggestions, and then said you might like something like this..."
Remus took the box from her and motioned for her to sit on his bed while he rummaged through his drawers for her gift. "It's not much, but since Molly won't let me out of the house..." He shrugged and handed her a wrapped in purple, shining paper, sitting beside her. They grinned at one another for a moment.
"Together then?" she asked eagerly. He nodded and on the count of three, they tore apart the wrapping paper from their gifts. Remus lifted the lid of his box and stared.
It was a golden pocket watch. Instead of telling time, however, there were small pictures of Sirius and Harry on the hands. And instead of numbers, there were words—sleep, work, school, Quidditch, detention, prison, mortal peril, dead... It was a miniature version of the Weasley clock at the Burrow.
"Remus..." Emmeline breathed. He turned to her nervously, wondering if his gift was as good as the watch she'd given him.
It was music box made from red oak. The lid had intricate carvings of flowers, and symbols, and, if Emmeline looked very closely, a wolf howling at the moon. He gulped as she lifted the lid to look inside. A quiet, lovely tune played when the lid opened on its hinges, and there was room for storing jewelry or whatever she wanted to place in there.
Remus was growing nervous as she just stared at his gift. "If-if you don't like it..." he said quietly, not sure how to place the look on her face.
She looked away from the box reluctantly to look at Remus. "What?" she said quietly. "No... no, I love it... It's beautiful."
"I know it's nothing close to this watch, but like I said, I—" He was cut off when Emmeline leaned in to kiss him. He returned the kiss almost instantly—once the shock of her actually liking his gift faded—and cupped her face gently.
The need for air very rudely interrupted them, and they pulled away from one another, their foreheads touching. He reached down and closed the lid of the music box, setting it on his desk chair for the time being. They smiled at one another again, their hands entangled, rubbing each other's fingers.
"So what now?" she whispered.
He grinned mischievously and leaned in to kiss her again. She laughed quietly against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her.
Sirius and Harry didn't return to Number Twelve until well past midnight. Exhausted, both wizards made their way upstairs and muttered good night to one another. Sirius decided to check on Remus, to see if he was still awake, and inquire to how Emmeline liked her gift, and crossed the hall. He carefully and quietly opened the door, noticing there wasn't a light on. He grinned widely when he set eyes on the sight before him. Remus and Emmeline were curled up together in the bed, sleeping soundly. Sirius was sure he noticed a small smile on Remus' sleeping face before he left the room.