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Chapter 2

Ginny felt small fingers pushing at her face. There was a weight on her bed, next to her shoulder, and a soft breath on her forehead. Opening her eyes a tiny bit, Ginny saw Sirius' own emerald-green eyes staring at her.

"Mummy," He whispered loudly, his breath hot on her face, "Mummy, wake up!"

"Ghrugh," Was Ginny's very articulate response.

Sirius giggled and pushed harder on her freckled cheeks, "Mummy!" He announced, "It's time fow bweakfast!"

"Hmmm?" Ginny replied, slowly opening her eyes, beginning to comprehend the little person persistently poking at her face, "Oh…Okay, honey. I'm up. I'm up."

"Gwandma made powwidge," Sirius continued, sliding off the bed as his mother sat up, "She said it's yo' fav'wit."

"Yes, it is," Ginny looked out the window, and saw a glumly overcast sky, "Especially on cold days like this."

"Come on, Mummy!" Sirius commanded, grabbing Ginny's hand. She allowed herself to be dragged out of bed and across the cold wooden floor to her door. She just managed to slide her feet into her slippers before Sirius pulled her out the door and at break-neck pace (or at least it felt like a break-neck pace at six in the morning) down the rickety, crooked stairs.

"Good morning!" Molly said cheerfully from the stove, where there was a pot of porridge and pans of bacon and sausage cooking. Sirius climbed into his usual seat, which, feeling the weight of a small child, extended its legs a couple of feet so that he could reach the top of the table. Ginny waved her wand at the fridge, which responded by flinging open its doors and spitting out two bottles, which landed solidly on the table.

"Juice or milk today, honey?" Ginny asked.

"Juice!" Sirius demanded.

"Juice what, Sirius?" Ginny asked in a more severe voice.

"Juice, please," Sirius replied, somewhat grudgingly.

Ginny flicked her wand, and the bottle of juice tilted itself over Sirius' glass.

Ginny turned to the counter and began toasting half a loaf of bread, while Molly piled the hot food onto plates and into bowls.

"Here's breakfast!" Molly chirped as she and Ginny sat down, setting plates of food before them. Ginny chose food for Sirius, and then filled her own plate as her son began to happily dig into his breakfast.

"Did you sleep well, dear?" Molly asked.

"Well enough," Ginny managed around a mouthful of very hot porridge.

"No waking up in the middle of the night?"

Ginny took a long swig of cold milk before answering, "No." Ginny watched as her mother picked delicately at her food, wondering how much she could say before her mother would cut in and say she wasn't taking care of herself. Ginny decided for the truth, with a positive spin, "It's getting better. I don't wake up any more, but I'm still really restless."

Molly was kept from saying anything by the entrance of her husband. Arthur Weasley had changed very little, except that he was growing balder, and something about his face seemed sadder. Not that his eyes didn't light up anymore at the mention of something Muggle-related. He was as fanatical as ever, just better acquainted with life.

"Morning everyone," Arthur said as he sat next to Molly, planting an affectionate kiss on her cheek.

"Gwandpa!" Sirius cried, emerging from his porridge, which was now smeared across his mouth, "Sit wif me!"

"Sirius," Ginny said, "Grandpa likes sitting next to Grandma."

"But I want him to sit wif me!" Sirius exclaimed, pouting.

"It's all right, Ginny," Arthur cut in, before Ginny could say anything more, "I haven't gotten to spend much time with Sirius lately."

Arthur stood and moved to the other side of the table. He ticked Sirius' ribs, making the little boy squirm and shriek with laughter. Ginny smiled reluctantly. Her father still worked so hard. Even with all his older children gone, he continued diligently at the Ministry so that Ginny could stay home with her son, and so that Sirius could have everything that Ginny and her brothers never had.

"Besides," Molly said matter-of-factly from the other side of the table, "Arthur and I have been married almost forty years. I think we can spend on breakfast away from each other."

That reminded Ginny of something, "You guys have an anniversary coming up!"

"Yes, in a couple of weeks," Arthur mused, "Fortieth anniversary. That's quite a long time."

Molly and Arthur beamed at each other across the table, and the room instantly seemed lighter and more welcoming. Ginny smiled. As distant as she and her mother were, it made her happy to see her parents still in love. At least Sirius has some example of a loving marriage she thought, unable to withhold her bitterness, or any marriage at all, for that matter.

"You guys should go on a holiday," Ginny said, "Go to the coast or something, and relax a little."

"Oh, don't be silly," Molly said dismissively, "We've never taken a holiday for our anniversary."

"Holiday?" Sirius piped up, "Aw we going someweah?"

"Not us, honey," Ginny smiled, "Grandma and Grandpa," then turning to her mother, she took up her argument again, "Yeah, but you always had seven children to watch. But now it's just me and Sirius, so it wouldn't be like leaving all of the boys behind to wreck the place."

Molly looked sternly at Ginny, "No. We've never done it before, there's no reason to start now. We're not leaving you alone with a three-year-old."

Before Ginny could stop herself, she retorted hotly, "You didn't seem to mind leaving me alone before."

The whole room seemed to shrink, the warm glow that had permeated it just an instant before disappeared. Ginny sucked in her breath and looked at her mother, whose face had collapsed with hurt, and felt an awful pang of guilt stab at her stomach. Arthur sat staring at the two of them, a piece of bacon balancing on his fork. Ginny felt as though her chest had shriveled up when she saw the wounded look on her mother's face. They sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. The only one who was oblivious was Sirius, who was happily sliding his hands around in the grease on his plate.

"I'm – I'm sorry, Mum," Ginny stammered, "I'm sorry. I just didn't think about it. I'm stressed and I'm tired and it just slipped out. I didn't mean it."

Molly broke eye contact with her daughter, and stood up, holding her plate, "Yes you did."

Ginny grimaced as her mother turned towards the sink, mentally slapping herself. Arthur bent to retrieve his piece of bacon off the floor, and Ginny began wiping Sirius' hands, just to give herself something to do in the awkward silence that had fallen over the kitchen. She glanced nervously at her mother's back, but Molly looked as she always did when she was doing the dishes. Her back didn't tell Ginny anything about how her mother was feeling.

"Mum," Ginny said finally, "I'll do the dishes. You can go relax before you go shopping."

Molly's shoulders stiffened. She turned and gave Ginny a cold, hard look, then said, "Well, since I'm clearly a failure at motherhood, I must be a failure at washing as well."

"Mum, be reasonable-" Ginny started, but Molly held up her hand. Her lips quivered slightly, and then she rushed around the table and into her bedroom.

"Merlin!" Ginny growled, once the door had snapped shut, "I can't believe what a prat I am!"

"What's a pwat?" Sirius demanded, keen on this new word.

Ginny jumped slightly, and paused, looking at her son and gulping like a fish out of water, "Um…I didn't say prat, Sirius. I said brat. And a brat is someone who is spoiled and rude, which we don't ever want to be."

"Oh," Sirius lost interest at his mother's teachings, and was about to dive his hands into the grease on Ginny's plate, only to have it whisked away with a sweep of his mother's wand.

"Don't worry about it," Arthur said as he watched his daughter storm around the kitchen, "No matter how much time passes, you're always going to resent your mother for what she did, and she's always going to feel guilty about it."

"I don't resent her!" Ginny exclaimed. Catching the look on her father's face, she stammered, "Well…I mean – I guess I do, but…Well…It's not like I haven't tried to forgive her, but it just makes me so angry when she lectures me like that. Like I'm the irresponsible one!"

Arthur still didn't say anything, but a raised eyebrow was all Ginny needed to understand his unspoken message, and go on the defense again.

"Okay, I know getting pregnant at seventeen wasn't responsible, but…You know what I mean, dad!"

Arthur nodded, his point made, "And you are stressed and tired, and your mother was being her usual bossy self, so that made you angry, and you just said something without thinking about it. Muggles call it a…Frodian slip…Something like that."

"Seriously, though," Ginny turned and leaned against the counter, "You should take her on a holiday. Do something romantic. Sirius and I will be absolutely fine here by ourselves."

"Where do you suggest I take her?" Arthur asked, somewhat taken aback by his daughter telling him to be romantic, "London?"

"London?" Ginny laughed, "No. She goes there all the time! Go somewhere different! Like I said…I think the beach is a good idea. Just stay in a nice bed-and-breakfast, get served all day long, have someone else do the laundry, you know, instead of the other way around…"

"Hm…I'll think about it. I could use a vacation," Arthur stood up and stretched, "Well, I'm off to work. See you tonight."

He tickled his grandson, kissed his daughter on the cheek and went into the bedroom to say good-bye to Molly. As the door opened, Ginny heard the distinct sound of muffled crying, followed by a very watery, "Oh, Arthur…" before it closed again.

"Well, mister," Ginny said, looking at her son, "What do you want to do today?"

Sirius' green eyes lit up, as they always did when he contemplated the millions of things he could do for the day. He sat quietly for a moment, somewhat lost in his thoughts, and then exclaimed, "Tweasuw hunt!"

"A treasure hunt!" Ginny exclaimed, "What a wonderful idea! Should we hunt for pirate treasure?"

Sirius wrinkled his nose, "No."

"Well then what treasure do you want to hunt for?" Ginny asked, sitting down and drawing him into her lap.

"Can we hunt fow my dad?" Sirius asked, clinging to Ginny's neck.

"Oh…" Ginny paused, as her heart clanged against her rib cage, "Well, Sirius, I don't think you can hunt for people. People usually aren't treasures."

"Why not?" Sirius' brows drew together.

"Well…It's hard to explain, honey, but…You see, treasures are usually things like money or jewelry. But you can't just hide people away and then expect to find them."

Ginny could see from the look of puzzlement on Sirius' face that he wasn't catching on. Ginny frowned. How could she explain to her son that she couldn't just draw him a map to his father? That there was no X to mark the spot where he was, that she didn't even have the slightest idea where that spot might be?

"You see…Your dad is hidden somewhere, like a treasure, but only he knows where he is hidden."

"You mean he has duh tweasuw map?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, and so no one else can find him."

"Ohhhhh," Sirius nodded, "Can he find us?"

"Well, yes," Ginny said hesitantly, frowning slightly as she searched for a way to get out of this new question, "But he's probably lost the map to where we are, so he's looking for it so that he can come home."

"Oh…Well den, I guess piwat tweasuw is okay," Sirius sighed, "Weah is de map?"

Ginny smiled, "I think there's one in Uncle Ron's old room in the attic."

Sirius leapt off her lap with a squeal and scampered up the stairs. Ginny closed her eyes briefly, and followed the sounds of Harry's son climbing the rickety, creaking staircase to the top of the house.