Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own anything you recognize in this story.

AN: This is from the Truths universe, and it may help if you've read the other stories in this universe. This fits between chapters twenty-five and twenty-six of Altercations. Thank you.

Breaking the News

By Neurotica

Sirius Apparated just outside the gates of Hogwarts and slowly trudged his way up the small slope, stopping between the winged boars. "Evening, gents," he said to the stone statues. The pair regarded him solemnly before nodding. "The headmaster knows I'm coming." One of the boars looked from the Head Auror to the castle as though it was looking for confirmation on what Sirius was saying. After a moment or two, it turned back to Sirius, nodded again, and the chains and padlocks around the gate fell away. Once Sirius was inside the gate, it creaked shut again, and the chains rattled back around the bars.

The wizard looked around the Hogwarts grounds at the few students who'd ventured out of the warmth of their common rooms to get some fresh air. Though it was the end of January, and snow was still on the ground, there was a comfortably warm atmosphere about the school that the outside world longed for. Glancing at the Quidditch pitch, Sirius spotted six blurs of scarlet robes flying around the goal posts. Smiling, he made his way over in that direction and stood at the edge of the pitch, looking with narrowed eyes for a certain blur with black, untidy hair. It wasn't hard to spot his godson; he was the one taking the steep dive with a hand stretched out, a look of complete concentration on his face.

Sirius watched as Harry captured the snitch and pulled out of his dive just in time before he became part of the landscape. Sirius grinned widely at the play that not even the legendary James Potter would have been able to pull off. He stuck his index fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly to get the younger wizard's attention. Harry spun around on his Firebolt and spotted his godfather. He grinned and motioned for Sirius to wait a minute. Sirius nodded at him and made his way up the Gryffindor stands to watch the rest of the practice.

The practice didn't last much longer; Harry called for his team to make their way to the ground, and after a short talk, they made their way to the locker rooms to change into their warm clothes. Harry mounted his broomstick again and flew up to the topmost bench in the stands to meet Sirius.

"Team looks good this year," Sirius commented as Harry sat next to him on the bench. "Haven't seen one this good since I was in school."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, I think we can win the cup this year," he said, ruffling his hair, a gesture he'd adopted when he was younger. Every time Sirius saw him do this, he had the mad urge to burst out laughing; he wondered if Harry knew how much he looked like his father. He probably did; Sirius made it habit to tell him at least twice a week.

"Pomfrey's even agreed to let Ron play," Harry told Sirius.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding? Isn't he still recovering?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but he's doing a lot better. He's still got all those potions to take and all that, but other than that he's just fine."

The Auror shook his head. "Poppy's getting soft in her old age. She wouldn't even let Remus carry his schoolbag after the full moons when we were in school. She'd make me or James do it."

Harry chuckled. "So what brings you all the way out here? I didn't think I'd see you until next week at the earliest."

Sirius stiffened and carefully avoided his godson's eye as he looked at a spot on the pitch. He'd had a very good reason for coming to Hogwarts today, but he was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn't the best idea after all. For two days, he'd tried to figure out how he was going to break his news to Harry. He'd imagined all the different ways the boy would react. There was, of course, the good reaction, in which Harry beamed proudly at his godfather, wished him all the luck in the world, and ran off to tell all his friends the great news. But there was also the bad reaction, where Harry told Sirius that he no longer wanted anything to do with the older wizard. Both scenarios were a bit over-exaggerated, and Sirius would happily settle for something in the middle, but preferably something closer to the first. Remus had of course been no help; the werewolf had told his best friend that all he needed to do was to tell Harry the truth of what was going on, and everything would be fine. Sirius decided Remus was delusional and had no idea what he was talking about.

"Sirius?" Harry said, poking his godfather's shoulder. The Auror started and turned to look at his godson's raised eyebrow. "You all right?"

Sirius took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, and rubbed a hand roughly across his face. "Yeah, kid, I'm fine," he said quietly. Harry only raised his eyebrow higher. Sirius vowed to slap Remus later for teaching Harry that look. "Okay, so I'm not really fine. A bit nervous, to be honest."

That got Harry's eyebrow back to its normal position. The boy frowned in confusion. "What've you got to be nervous about? Is something wrong?"

"Depends on how you look at it," Sirius muttered. He sighed deeply. "I'm just going to get this over with before I lose my nerve... Harry, what do you think about Naomi? Please answer me honestly; this is very important to me."

Looking bemused, Harry thought on his answer a minute before answering. "Well," he began slowly. "I like her enough, I guess. Never really had a chance to get to know her, did I? All I really know is that she was best friends with my parents and that she and Remus dated for a while, and she was a Death Eater for a while before she turned spy for the Order."

Sirius looked at him sharply. "How'd you know all that about the Order?" he demanded.

Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "You'd be surprised what I hear when you and Remus think I'm not listening."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "All you were supposed to know was that she helped us that night at the cottage. How long have you known that she was a spy?"

"I don't know," Harry said. "Couple months, I guess... What's Naomi got to do with this?"

"Everything," Sirius said. Harry's eyebrow was on the upward move again. "I told you after Christmas that I'd been seeing her, right? And that was why Remus and I weren't speaking for so long..." Harry nodded; it wasn't easy to forget Remus trying to pretend Sirius didn't exist. "Well, see, Naomi and I have been friends most our lives, and when you know someone that long, it's kind of hard not to have feelings for them... Okay, this is coming out a lot cheesier than I'd meant it to..."

Harry's lips twitched. "No, please, go on. If we're going to have another birds-and-bees talk, I don't want to miss it."

Sirius chuckled a little. "I can't imagine you would. Prat," he added, smacking Harry's shoulder playfully. "No, this is not another one of those talks; I think Remus and I had quite enough of that for a while."

"So then what's this about?" Harry asked. "I already know you and Naomi are together..."

"Well, the other night, I, um, I asked her to marry me." Part one was out; now to wait on Harry's reaction. If Harry didn't react well to this, he'd wait on the second half of his big news for a bit.

"Oh," Harry said quietly, turning away from his godfather in favor of a bird flying through one of the goal posts on the pitch. "Um, congratulations..."

Sirius sighed. "Look, I know this is a bit sudden, but I really love her, Harry. You understand that, right?"

Harry nodded and turned to him with what he knew to be a forced smile. "Yeah, of course. When's the wedding, then?"

"About two weeks after Remus and Emmeline's..."

Again, Harry nodded.

The two sat in silence for what seemed like hours to the Head Auror. Harry had never had been one to express his feelings openly; the biggest emotional outburst Sirius had ever seen him have was just after the new year, when Ron was kidnapped by Death Eaters. Because of this tendency to suppress emotions, Sirius was never sure how the boy felt about certain things, and Harry's silence only made him more uneasy. "We're having it at the Ministry... I'm going to talk to Dumbledore later about you getting out of school to be there," he said quietly just to have something to say.

"Okay."

"Harry..."

Harry turned to him. "I'm fine, Sirius. Honestly. I think it's great you're getting married. You deserve to be happy."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes, I do. I'm not a little kid anymore; I'm almost seventeen, and I can't expect you to live your life alone. If you love Naomi and she loves you, then I'll support whatever decision you make."

Sirius searched his face for any signs that he was only humoring his godfather, but couldn't find a single one. "Thanks, Harry," he said quietly, pulling his godson into a one-armed hug and kissing his scruffy head."There is one more thing I wanted to tell you about." Harry looked at him in question, and he felt even more nervous than he had all evening. "Um, Naomi found out a few days ago that she's..." He licked his lips a little, trying to buy time. As odd as it sounds, he hadn't even felt this nervous when he'd told Remus this bit of news. Finally, he decided the best way to do it would be to just get it out. "Harry, Naomi's pregnant."

Harry stared at his godfather with his mouth slightly open and Sirius was sure he'd paled just a little. Sirius tried his best not to squirm under the look he was receiving. After a few minutes, Harry nodded and stood, picking up his Firebolt and shouldering it. "Anything else you need to tell me?" he asked flatly.

Sirius shook his head wordlessly and Harry started to make his way down the stairs. "Harry, wait a second!" Sirius called, rushing after him. He didn't catch the boy until they were halfway to the castle. Sirius grabbed his arm to stop him and spun him around. "Are you okay?"

"Absolutely spiffing," was the blatantly sarcastic reply.

Sirius dropped his arm from Harry's. He opened and closed his mouth several times before Harry, starting to get impatient, spoke, "What do you want me to say, Sirius? First you tell me you're getting married to a woman who spent the last three years working for Voldemort, then you tell me you got her pregnant. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't she engaged to Remus?"

Sirius sighed heavily. "Harry... I know this whole situation is a little mental." Harry snorted humorlessly. "Okay, it's really mental, but I didn't plan for any of this to happen. I didn't come here to tell you all this so you'll hate me. You are a very large, very important part of my life, Harry, and that will never change, no matter what. And I'd like for you to be happy for me, but if you're not, I understand. I know this has to be a rough time for you, what with Remus getting married, and now all this, but..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"I don't hate you," Harry muttered, staring at his shoes. "I could never hate you. I just..." He sighed heavily. "I guess I'm just used to having you and Remus to myself, and now I won't. It's always been just the three of us, and then all of a sudden, Emmeline comes into the picture, and then Naomi, and it seems like I'm being pushed to the side."

Sirius stared at him. "How can you say that?" he whispered incredulously. "Harry, you will never be pushed to the side by Remus or me. We love you very much, more than I think you'll ever know. Just because I'm getting married and having a baby, it doesn't mean you won't have a place in my life. I will always find time to spend with you. But you're growing up now, like you said. You're almost seventeen, you've got a girlfriend and your own friends… To be honest, I was the one feeling like I was being pushed aside."

"What?" Harry said, snapping his head up to look at his godfather.

Sirius shrugged. "It's normal for a kid to prefer his friends over his parents, or in our case, his guardians. I always expected it at some point, I guess... Soon you'll be off on your own. You won't need us anymore..."

"Yes, I will... Someone's got to slap some sense into me when I act stupid."

Sirius laughed. "That's Remus' department, kid, not mine."

"Well, then, I need you to help me act stupid."

Sirius rolled his eyes, smiling. "Anytime. Day or night. You just let me know and I'll be more than happy to lend out my expertise in stupid acts."

Harry grinned a little. "Promise?"

"Absolutely," Sirius said. "So... about this whole baby and marriage thing..."

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah... Well, I suppose it's not the end of the world, is it? Unless of course the kid's a complete monster..."

"Har har," Sirius said sarcastically. "I was thinking you could be like a surrogate godfather or something for the baby."

"You mean I can feed him chocolate at night and watch you struggle to get him in bed?"

Sirius shrugged. "That's what I did with you."

"That explains a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Harry shrugged, grinning. "Nothing at all," he said airily.

"Prat."

"Git."

They grinned at one another for a moment or two before Sirius broke the silence. "So we're okay then? You're not going to sulk for the rest of the week, are you?"

"Nah, I'm all right," Harry said. "And I am happy for you. A little shocked, but happy."

Sirius nodded in relief. "Good. That means a lot to me, Harry."

"Well, I better get back up to the tower. I've got a bunch of homework I need to get done before Hermione starts screaming..."

Sirius chuckled. "I'll walk you up."

Godfather and godson made their way up to the castle in mostly silence, both thinking through what had just happened. It hadn't gone as smoothly as Sirius would have liked, but at least Harry didn't seem too upset anymore. The idea would take some getting used to for both of them. But Sirius was sure it would all work out in the end.

"Sirius, can I ask you something?" Harry asked as they reached the stone castle doors.

"You can ask me anything, Harry."

"Where do babies come from?"

Sirius turned slowly to his godson and found his green eyes dancing in mischief. "What? You didn't get enough of me embarrassing myself over this when you were thirteen?"

"I never get enough of you embarrassing yourself."

"Cheeky little bugger," Sirius muttered, his lips twitching.

"So really, where do babies come from?"

"Harry, don't make me take your Firebolt away."

"You wouldn't dream of it."

"You think so? I'm about to be a father, mate, I've got to start being tougher on you."

"Please. That kid's going to have you wrapped around its pinky finger the day it's born."

Sirius smiled and draped an arm around his godson's shoulder, pulling open the door for them to enter the castle. "Just like you did," he said fondly. "You still do as a matter of fact."

"And the bad thing is that I know it and use it to my advantage."

"You wouldn't be a Marauder if you didn't, my boy."

"So can I name the baby?"

"No."

"Aw, please Sirius?"

"No."

"Come on..."

Sirius' reply was a big wet snowball he'd been hoarding down the back of Harry's robes.