Happy Hallowe'en! I might get a wee bit slower with updates in the future, as I just had a really incredibly good job interview today. Wish me luck!

It's that time again! Time to thank my beautimous reviewers!

gatermage: I'm glad you like it, here's your update!

molloch: The family's coming together, slowly but surely, although a bit faster than one might expect.

uknowho: Hehe… it's always the quiet ones, isn't it?

Sunny moonlight: It's nice that you like my story! Although I'm sorry if you have to read my story when you're incoherent for it to make sense. :-P

Becky Silver Black: Yay happiness! Yay dancing! Yay happy dancing! Happydances because Becky likes the story!

And now, without further ado, the next chapter!

30 November 1985

In his lover's arms, sated and happy, with the sounds and scents of children and cooking going on outside the door—muffled slightly by the silencing spell Sirius had put on their room to keep from waking said children—that was as close to heaven as Remus could wish for. A glance at the clock revealed that he had the luxury of thirty minutes before he had to get out of bed. Thirty minutes to revel in comfort and Sirius's warm spicy scent. To think that less than a month ago he was lonely and despairing. Now… now he had… "Family."

"Hmm? What was that, Rem?" Sirius blinked lazily, cuddling closer to look into the golden eyes that focused on him.

"I didn't know you were awake." Long scarred fingers went of their own accord to the soft locks that had fallen in Sirius's eyes. "I was just talking to myself."

"You said 'family.'" The statement was almost accusatory, but Remus knew the accusation wasn't directed toward him.

"We're a family. You, me, Rory, her children, Harry. An unorthodox family, but…"

The startled bark of laughter brought a smile to Remus's face, and flooded his heart with warmth. He loved to make Sirius laugh. "You're right. We are a family, aren't we? I… I like the idea. But you're not the first one of us to figure that out, you know."

Remus blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Amazing. You always used to be so observant." Sirius grinned mischievously. "Raul and Rome figured it out first. Or hadn't you noticed that we're now 'Daddy Wemmy' and 'Papa Siwi'?"

Chuckling, Remus punched his lover playfully on the shoulder. At least, that was the intention. What really happened was that his hand went into a fist, the scabs on his knuckles broke, and Remus squeaked in surprise and pain, cradling his aching, bloody hand to his chest. He waved off Sirius's concern, shaking his head ruefully. "Who'd have ever guessed that a nose looking that squishy would be so damned hard?"

'Laughter really is the best medicine,' ruminated the werewolf as his lover finally controlled his giggling enough to get a wand to heal the abused hand. 'Or maybe Padfoot's laughter is just magic.'

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Harry knew exactly where he was when he woke up that morning. Singing and laughter were not components of a Dursley morning. Nor was the wide soft bed underneath him. He wondered what time it was, but decided it must be early, or he'd have been called to help with breakfast and do his morning chores. Early meant more time to lie in the most comfortable bed he'd ever seen, and review the events of the day before.

It had started with the sounds of people arguing outside, and then his door was flung open. Silhouetted against the hallway was a smiling face that seemed oddly familiar. The thin man held out his arms. "Hello Harry. My name's Sirius. I'm your godfather, and we're here to take you away."

The only things that had registered in Harry's mind were the welcoming arms and the words 'take you away.' Eagerly, he'd flung himself into Sirius's embrace, blinking happily at the woman who reached out and ruffled his hair fondly before poking her head into the cupboard. Then Mr. Lupin from the zoo had punched Uncle Vernon. That had been beautiful—the punch, then Uncle Vernon staggering backward with a roar before stumbling over the coffee table and landing with a crash of Aunt Petunia's favorite tea set.

The rest of the day had been something of a blur, with only a few moments standing out in Harry's memory. Getting his first new clothes ever… ordering whatever he wanted at the ice cream parlor… running amok through the toy store with Sirius and Rory while Remus shook his head and laughed. Laughter had been there throughout the day. Remus's dry chuckle, Sirius's short exclamatory outbursts, Rory's rippling snicker… the mirth seemed to grow late in the afternoon with Rome and Raul's mischievous giggles and the babies' gleeful burbling.

Smiling with the memories, Harry opened his eyes, and sat bolt upright in alarm at the angle of the sun. He rushed to get dressed and out to the kitchen. They'd be angry with him for not helping with breakfast!

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Rory was very grateful when Remus and Sirius came into the kitchen. The twins had been excited by the day spent at Maggie's house, and had therefore stayed up all night. Both sets of twins. She'd finally gotten the girls asleep near dawn, and started the boys on a bowl of cereal each while she tried to make breakfast. Remus arrived just in time to keep her from putting cinnamon in the eggs and peppering the scones. He took over the breakfast preparations after turning her over to his partner, who saw her to the most comfortable chair in the kitchen. Sirius was about to sit himself when Alhena started to cry.

Stalling her, the dark-haired man stood himself. "I'll take care of her. I'm her father, remember?" He exchanged a loving look with Remus, then went off to the babies' room, where he could soon be heard making exaggerated gagging noises as he changed diapers.

Rory chuckled and leaned back into her chair, sighing wearily. All she wanted right now was food and sleep. Not necessarily in that order. She smiled weakly at Remus as he set a plate in front of her. "It looks good."

After a bite told her that it was even better than it looked, the contents of the plate seemed to magically vanish from the plate. Remus raised a brow. "Hungry much?"

Glaring ruefully at Raul and Rome, who'd fallen asleep in their bowls of dry cereal, Rory shook her head. "There's a very old saying in China. 'Sleep is food and food is sleep.' I haven't had any sleep, therefore I need food. The kids kept me up all night. If it wasn't these two, it was the girls clamoring for attention." The rueful glare turned into an amused smirk. "And not to name names, but someone was too busy playing hide-the-sausage last night to come help me with the little brats."

Remus choked on his tea. "You heard…"

"I didn't hear a thing." She grinned at her friend's discomfiture. "The silencing spell was very good. So good, in fact, that you didn't hear me knocking. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the two of you would have a silencing spell on your room."

Whatever they were about to say next was lost as Sirius entered the kitchen from one side, and Harry rushed in from the other, looking terrified. The adults blinked at the expression on the boy's face, and Sirius finally spoke. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up and I'm sorry I wasn't here to help with breakfast it'll never happen again I'm so sorry…" Harry finally stopped to breathe, and blinked as he found three adults laughing and hugging him. All three knelt around him, and Rory spoke seriously.

"Harry, you're not going to get in trouble here for sleeping in. You don't have to help cook unless you want to, and the only chore you have is keeping your room clean." Rory smiled, "Although you're more than welcome to help us out if you want to."

The boy looked incredulously from Rory to Remus to Sirius, eventually realizing from their gentle but serious faces that they were telling the truth. Something about the realization made him almost cry, and he tried to hug all three of them at once.

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Sirius had spent four years in Azkaban for murders he hadn't committed, and he'd sworn never to go back there. But at that moment if Vernon or Petunia Dursley had been within his reach, Sirius would have truly been a murderer. No child should have been so terrified at being late to breakfast. A quick look revealed that his friends were just as murderous as he. Perhaps he could convince Rory to pay a late night visit to the Dursley home for some harmless chaos. Remus would never go for it, but…

In retrospect, Sirius wasn't so sure that Remus wouldn't help after watching Harry try to take the worst of the breakfast—the burnt bits of toast, the eggs just a bit too dry… Harry was happily bewildered when the adults insisted on giving him the best bits of food, and didn't notice the undercurrent of anger. They told Harry stories about his parents while he ate, and he insisted on helping wash dishes afterward.

The discussion of Lily and James eventually moved into the living room, and Harry climbed into Sirius' lap while Rory carried the boys off to bed and Remus went to get a photo album. Leaning trustfully against his godfather, Harry asked a question that had weight behind it—as if it had been on his mind for awhile. "Sirius… Raul and Rome call you Papa… Can I call you Papa, too?"

Sirius didn't know whether to laugh and cry, so he did both, hugging Harry tightly. Suddenly, his anger at the Dursleys didn't seem so important anymore.

So, there you have it, another chapter. And to forestall questions, if you don't know what 'hide-the-sausage' is, cherish your innocence, and do your parents know you're online?

Hmm… there's a scene I have sketched out that didn't make it in this chapter… Ah, well. It'll probably show up next chapter.