Chapter 3: Sirius-ly Odd Behaviour

On the way to 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry couldn't stop thinking about, what he had learned from May. Not only was she a distant relative, but she was also his other guardian. As they rode on the subway he couldn't suppress the feeling of loathing towards her. Not only for pretending to be his mother but also for leaving him and Sirius behind. The more he looked at her the more he didn't like her. The only consolation Harry had, was that Sirius could put things right!

Upon their arrival at Grimmauld Place, Mr. Weasley gave May a piece of paper, which she quickly read and then destroyed. Harry had seen her crumple the paper and with a blow from her lips, the piece of paper caught on fire as she still held it in her hand. As he saw the ashes blowing away, Harry was surprised to see that she didn't use her wand or chant a spell to destroy it.

'Isn't she something?' mumbled Mr. Weasley, 'She is the only Auror in the whole Ministry that is able to do that type of magic.'

'I'm ready Author.' May said, fixing herself a bit.

'Right.' said Mr. Weasley as he proceeded to 12 Grimmauld Place.

Mrs. Weasley had opened the door for them. Once inside, Mrs. Weasley kept looking at May like she had seen a ghost. Her eyes then were fixed on Harry, who just looked away and pretended to not notice anything.

'I bet you are all hungry.' Mrs. Weasley said in a hurry as she walked towards the kitchen.

Mr. Weasley was going to say that they already had some lunch but thought better of it. He just kept quiet and followed after Molly to the kitchen. Harry was about to follow, when he noticed that Sirius was standing in the middle of the stairs in front of his mother's portrait, staring at them.

"Ms. Aztec." said Sirius with an aristocratic air.

Harry could almost swear he heard May stop breathing at the moment Sirius had taken his first step towards them. Harry took this as a sign that May was afraid of Sirius and was about to smile when he caught a whiff of someone's cologne. Ron's cologne to be more precise…the one Hermione had given him for his 15th birthday. Was Sirius wearing it?

The more Harry looked at Sirius the more he didn't like what he was seeing. Sirius's dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance, he was wearing his best robes, and even his shoes looked liked they have been polished enough to see your own reflection in them. Harry frowned; the Sirius in front of him was not the Sirius he knew.

Meanwhile May looked like she had been frozen in place and could hardly breathe, but still kept her composure. 'Mr. Black.' May spoke in a very faint tone. 'I have opened your case and if everything goes well…' May almost stopped speaking as Sirius approached them. '…You will be a free man. Once the Ministry sees they were wrong, they will have no choice but to award you with the Order of Merlin, 1st Class.' May said with a smile as she tried to sound professional.

'Thank you.' said Sirius almost gallantly as he raised her right hand and kissed it.

The kiss that Sirius had placed on her hand was too long for Harry's liking. What was wrong with Sirius? Why was he acting like this? The only thing he needed was for Sirius to kiss her, right in front of him.

'Oh, there you are…lunch is ready.' said Mrs. Weasley as she came to get them.

During lunch everyone kept looking at May as they ate, except for Mr. Weasley and Harry. As for Sirius…he was a different case. May looked very uncomfortable, especially with the way Sirius was staring at her, almost like if he was trying to figure her out. After a while, Harry tried to catch Sirius' eye but it was virtually impossible, for he seemed to be concentrating on a certain redhead.

'Sirius how does feel to know that you are almost a free man?' asked Fred as he just finished making a bet with George. The bet consisted of Sirius being too far-gone to answer at the moment or to even keep a decent conversation.

It took Sirius a moment to register that someone was talking to him, 'Oh, right.' He began as he looked at his plate before looking at everyone on the table, almost like he was trying to decide who had spoken. 'I don't know. I guess I will find out once I'm truly free.' he answered honestly.

'Speaking of free,' May began as she looked towards Mr. Weasley. 'Arthur, were you able to get what I asked?'

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat before speaking, 'Of course…but I had a wild of time getting it.' He said as he began to get up from the table. Mr. Weasley exited the kitchen and was back a few seconds later with a small box. 'There you are.' He said handing May the box.

May smiled like she had been given something precious, 'Thank you Arthur, I owe you one.'

'I still believe you will be destroying your natural beauty,' said Mr. Weasley, 'Don't you agree, Molly?'

Mrs. Weasley nodded. 'I don't believe that anyone should pretend to be someone else, when they aren't happy with themselves first.' said Mrs. Weasley but it seemed that it wasn't the response Mr. Weasley was looking for. As for May she looked embarrassed and unable to speak at all.

Harry couldn't be happier; someone had finally said what he had wanted to say for a very long time, but in not the same exact words. Harry saw Hermione looking at the box very closely as if it would tell her everything she needed to know.

'Please excuse me.' May said rather quickly as she left the kitchen and headed towards the stairs, her face was still red from the comment she had received from Mrs. Weasley. Harry smile, but his smile was short-lived, for Sirius had gotten up as well and had gone after her.

After lunch was over, Harry, Hermione and Ron had headed towards the boys bedroom, and upon arrival Harry had proceeded to tell them everything that had happen within the Ministry of Magic.

'She can't be that bad.' said Hermione as she rested her head on Ron's pillow. Ron sat on the opposite side of the bed puzzling over what Harry had just revealed to them. 'If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have known who had sent the Dementors after you.'

'Why would Umbridge try to kill you?' asked Ron still puzzling over Umbridge's actions.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'It is obvious Ron, that she didn't want anyone to know that You-Know-Who is back and that the Ministry is doing nothing about it.'

Ron looked at her, half-amused, and then his eyes widened as he finally noticed that she had her eyes closed as she rested on his bed. Harry lay on his bed defeated. No one had even bothered to point out how she had hurt him. Not even Hermione who was the cleverest of the three had managed to point this out. But it was no use continuing with the subject, since Hermione had obviously fallen sleep and Ron was simply watching her.

Harry again wondered why everyone had kept May out of his life until now…or even why nobody had mentioned her before. Then again there were a lot of things that they were not bothering to tell him. Harry looked towards Ron one more time, in hopes to say what he was thinking to him, when he saw Ron still looking at Hermione. Harry just closed his eyes believing that maybe a nap would do him some good, when a thought popped into his head. The looked that Sirius had on his face at lunch, was the same look that Ron had as he looked at Hermione sleeping. Could be that Sirius felt something for May? Harry made a mental note to ask Sirius if he was in love with May or did he just like her, before falling sleep.

Harry felt himself hearing someone laugh. 'He is adorable. Are you sure that you trust me enough to look after him?' said a female voice.

Harry found himself looking towards two females, who where looking at him as he played with his toys. One of the females, he instantly recognized to be his mother but the other was another matter.

'You will be perfect.' said Lily as she pickup Harry up. 'Besides Harry loves to play with other children. Don't you love?'

Harry then saw the other woman, who was also holding a child around the same age that he was.

Harry then felt that everything had began to shake and that his name was being called over and over again.

'Harry! Harry!' said Hermione, almost screaming at him to wake up, as Ron jumped on Harry's bed. 'Honestly Ron, if my screaming doesn't wake him up, what make you think that by jumping on the bed would?'

'Because,' said Ron between jumps, "I just know…'

'How I just love to be awoken by Ron the Earthquake!' Harry was grinning now fully awake, thanks to his best two mates.

'Earthquake?' said Ron in disbelief as he missed a step and almost fell off the bed.

After settling themselves down, Harry toll them about his dream but where later interrupted by Fred and George, before they could say anything on the subject.

'Can you believe it?' said George, '…we were kicked out from the room across Sirius' bedroom.'

'Just when we were putting the finishing touches on the room.' said Fred, disappointed.

'What kind of finishing touches?' Hermione asked fearing the worst, since that particular room had been assigned to May. At the moment Harry wanted to congratulate them.

'Just a knickknack here and there,' said George with a smile, 'but at least we should be able to get enough materials for our next project.'

At this Harry couldn't help but feel absolutely confused at what the twins where up to. 'What do you mean by "enough materials?"' asked Harry.

George grinned at his twin before answering, 'Thanks to May we have come to the knowledge that the muggle way is the only way to go.'

Hermione lift an eyebrow not liking where the twins where going with this.

'We figure that if May can use muggle household objects which can't be detected by magic. Imagine what we can get away with at Hogwarts! We could leave the school with a bang!' exclaimed Fred quite excitedly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She just knew that this year was not going to be her year, especially with the OWLS coming up.

'Harry, I just that maybe you will like to know that Professor Lupin is here.' said Ginny who had just entered the room, with Crookshanks.

Harry smiled, 'Where is he?'

'In the study with Sirius.' Ginny answered as she sat beside Harry.

A few moments later he made his way into the study, where his father's best friends were gathered. The door was left half ajar and Harry could see Sirius from where he was. Now this was the Sirius that Harry knew, his hair was a mess but still presentable, his robes weren't entirely clean and well pressed, and he looked angry and bored. Harry was about to enter the room, but he stopped as soon as he heard the topic of their discussion.

'So, May is back after all this years?' asked Lupin surprised.

'It doesn't matter if she is back," growled Sirius. 'She is still my fiancée, even if she likes it or not.'

'You still have not forgiven her for leaving you at the altar, even after all these years?'

Sirius growled as he ran a hand through his hair, 'Let's drop the subject! Now tell, what have you found out about this man…the one who wants to kill her?'

Lupin seemed to take a moment before answering, 'All we know is that he is in England and knowing our luck, it will be only a matter of time before he joins You-Know-Who. Dumbledore had always said that the assassin might still be You-Know-Who's right hand man even after all this years. This assassin is complete nut job if you ask me…he still follows his master orders as though he were alive. I don't like this at all…first it was your brother, then your father and your mother. What bothers me is why would this assassin go after May? It is not like she had married you and why hasn't he come after you?'

'I don't think her status within my family had anything to do with it. As for me,' Sirius chuckled, 'he is afraid to try anything against me. I believe that the real reason behind his attempt on my bride it is because of our…' Sirius had stopped talking when he saw Harry standing by the door. Sirius looked at Lupin before motioning Harry to come in.

'How are you holding up?' asked Lupin as soon as he saw him.

'I'm good, thanks.' answered Harry taking the seat that Sirius had motioned for him to sit on. As he sat down he notice that the small table, which was by Sirius' chair, contained upon its surface an empty half-bottle of whisky and a glass. Harry looked toward Lupin who was not holding a glass of his own.

Lupin had always been perceptive of Harry, a gift he had always shown during Harry's third year at Hogwarts. 'I believe there is something bothering you Harry, do wish to talk about it?'

'No…but I have been wondering about something.' said Harry as he debated whether or not to ask what had really been on his mind.

'You know Harry,' began Lupin to say as he made himself more comfortable in the chair, 'it is not good to keep things bottled up.' said Lupin as he looked in Sirius' direction. The whisky bottle was now almost empty as Sirius pored the rest of the drink to his glass, empting the bottle.

Harry had to admit that Lupin had a point and was about to ask his question when Sirius spoke, 'If your questions are about May, Remus here will answered them.' said Sirius pointing at Lupin. 'At this moment, I have a few words I would like to say to a certain witch.' said Sirius drunkenly. 'If you will excuse me.' Sirius said getting up from his chair and then proceeded to stagger towards the door.

Lupin shook his head in disagreement and then he looked at Harry with sympathy. 'He is only like this because May disagreed with him about something…which is not very important at the moment.' said Lupin with a manner of non-importance.

Harry didn't say anything about the subject, for he knew that he would soon find out what that something was. 'About May,' began Harry, 'why haven't I heard of her before?'

Lupin took a deep breath, 'Well Harry…the reason why she has never been mentioned is because she was never important.'

Harry blinked at this. Harry hated May but that was not a reason to call her unimportant, well to him at least she wasn't. 'Unimportant?' asked Harry.

Lupin tried to hide a smile, 'For one thing, when she left she vowed to never return to England even if Sirius was calling her from his deathbed. The other reason was that Dumbledore didn't think it was important to tell you.' Lupin explained as he looked at Harry with curiosity.

Harry was getting mad. 'You are saying that the only reason why she came back it was because she needed protection?'

Now it was Lupin's turn to blink, as he quickly understood that Harry had overheard their conversation and could help but wonder…what other things had Harry also heard?