Revised: 27 August 2004

The Future Awaits
Chapter 4: A Celebration Indeed

Two days passed since Sirius' comeback. The Order of Phoenix had learnt about his return, though they were still a bit unsure whether it was wise to announce his comeback to the public, despite Hermione reminding them that Sirius has been cleared off his charges, since Peter was spotted.

It was later in the evening that, Mrs Weasley told the members that they ought to have a 'Welcome Back' party for Sirius, which they all agreed. They decided to hold it at their very own headquarters, at 12 Grimmauld Place.

To Sirius' astonishment, the place looked brand new, sparkling clean and more so, very… homely.

"Yeah, thanks to those lovely women there, they have redone this house," explained Harry, nodding at Mrs Weasley and Ginny.

"…and Hermione, of course," he added as an afterthought.

Sirius' ears reddened at her name, thankfully covered by his long shaggy hair. He smiled at his godson.

"Gosh! I've missed so much. I didn't know that my very own godson has turned cheeky these days…"

Remus came from behind, answering Sirius, "Well, the reason with that is that he's still in search of the 'Right One'. So, he's been flirting all over." Remus grinned at Harry with a wink, which made Harry turned crimson, making the two Marauders laughed at the young man.

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It was half an hour later when Hermione arrived. Sirius thought she looked so tired, probably from work. It made him feel guilty that she came.

The feast was about to begin when Ron came in saying, "Sorry I'm late!"

He looked just like Hermione, all tired and dehydrated. It was then that Sirius realised that this was the first time he saw Ron ever since his return.

Ron went over to Hermione and pecked her on the lips, to Sirius' horror.

"Hey, love."

"Hey, sweetheart," replied a smiling Hermione.

Sirius felt as if someone had thrown a bludger onto his stomach. 'They are together?!' he thought. He looked over to Remus who was sitting beside him. He could sense Remus was trying to avoid his eyes, pretending to be busy folding his napkin.

Sirius snorted mentally, 'Yeah… celebration indeed… Celebration for my broken heart that is,' he thought gloomily.

"Hey, Sirius," Ron greeted with a friendly smile, "Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday. I was needed in the office."

He seated himself next to Hermione which made Sirius growled inwardly. "That's okay," Sirius replied, trying to sound casual, but only Remus noted his controlled tone.

All of them feasted on Mrs Weasley's delicious dishes. They had Yam flavoured ice cream as dessert, which Harry bought from a muggle supermarket.

"Mmmm… we should get many of these for Hogwarts," commented Professor Dumbledore, which made both Harry and Hermione glanced and smiled at each other. Arthur was about to comment, but stopped when he saw the look his wife gave him.

Everybody seemed full except for Ron, who was pestering Harry to give him more ice cream.

"Ron! Honestly! Will you ever grow up?!" scolded Hermione.

"Nah! Hermione, let him be. You know you like him the way he is," Harry teased, giving Ron the whole tub of ice cream since there was only little left. Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her cheeks from reddening. Ron smiled smugly at her, and then leaned in to kiss her cheek, which caused her to blush even harder.

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Back in the living room, Sirius strained his ears onto the conversation the three best friends were having in the kitchen. The others were trying to make him tell them more about the Veil, though he was in no mood to talk about it.

Ron and Hermione came in moments later, with Ron holding Hermione on the waist and him trying to snuggle into her neck making Hermione giggled uncontrollably. Harry followed behind them, shaking his head. The sight of the couple, made Sirius cringed visibly, though it was only noted by his friend, and the two professors.

The threesome seated themselves across Sirius, and to Sirius' disgust, Hermione was sitting in between Ron's legs.

The members having found that it was useless talking to a moody Sirius, turned to Hermione to ask her questions.

"Oh we just gathered information as usual, solved some puzzles… though I must admit that I was not so sure it will be successful."

Ron and Harry snorted.

"Understatement of the century," Ron muttered, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. That remark made everybody laughed, except for Sirius and Hermione.

Soon, it was time for everybody to go. Remus had asked Sirius if he wanted to stay in his house or his, to which Sirius answered, "Of course yours, Moony. You really think I want to stay here? Why? You mind me staying?"

"NO!! That's not what I meant. It's just that… I thought since you found this place looking better-"

He was cut off by Sirius, "Nah! I agree it looks better, but I rather not stay here, alone."

Hermione was grabbing her cloak when she turned to Sirius, "By the way, Sirius…"

Sirius instantly faced her. He just loved to hear her saying his name. "Do you think you can meet me at my place on Saturday at noon? I'm off for that day."

"Sure," he said, not noticing the excitement he let out in his voice. Hermione smiled at him and waved a goodbye. Together, she, Ron and Harry apparated away.

A/N: How's that?