Chapter 5

"So, Harry," Isabella said conversationally as she made breakfast the next morning. "Where's Jedediah? Is he still sleeping, because he didn't come out with you."

"Oh, well he's … er, in the bathroom," Harry replied truthfully. "Not feeling good this morning."

Isabella frowned, putting eggs on a plate. "Oh, he's not? Do you know if he's all right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure he's fine," Harry responded, giving Isabella a thank-you as she set a plate down in front of him. "I bet it's just something that will go away later on during the day."

"Where was you last night?" Willow asked as she stabbed an egg on her plate with a fork. She put it in her mouth and looked at Harry curiously. "I came in to you room and you was gone."

"Willow?" Isabella said slowly, "Talk properly. We've been working on that, remember?"

Willow blushed, but nodded. "Sorry, Isabella."

Harry swallowed as he looked at the little girl. "What do you mean, Willow? I was sleeping all last night."

Willow shook her head vigorously. "Nuh-uh! I came into your room because I wanted you to read me a story, but you were gone."

Isabella looked at Willow with a frown. "Are you telling fibs, Willow?"

The little girl looked hurt, but shook her head. "I am being serious. Harry was gone! Poof! So was Jemima."

Just then, Jedediah came into the room, looking tired.

"You don't look so good," Isabella said as she set a plate in front of Jedediah. "Were you sick in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine," Jedediah snapped. "I just got a headache. Could I have a drink?"

"Sure," Isabella said, grabbing a glass and filling it with cold water. "I have to take Harry over to Sirius's after breakfast, would you mind watching Willow and Nevaeda, Jedediah?"

Jedediah sighed, not bothering to hide how much he didn't want to baby-sit. "What about Uncle Julian? Can't he watch his own kids?"

"Your Uncle is at work," Isabella pointed out. "He left early this morning."

Jedediah sighed again, drinking the water thirstily. "Fine, I'll look after them."

"Thank-you, Jedediah. I'm trusting you to look after my girls, and you will, right?"

Jedediah nodded solemnly. "I will look after your girls …" He trailed off, not knowing what to call Isabella, but then shrugged it off and drank the rest of the water that was in the cup.

"How about we leave in five minutes, Harry?" Isabella said, noticing that Harry had finished the food on his plate. "It'll give me some time to get ready. That sound good to you?"

"Sure," Harry said with a nod; Isabella leaving the kitchen afterwards. Then, he turned to look at Jedediah. "You should tell her about last night."

Jedediah glared at Harry, nodding his head towards Willow, who was listening in to their conversation eagerly.

"I knew that you went out," Willow said with a smile. "I knew it! Why you lie, Harry?"

Harry glanced at Jedediah. "You explain to her, Jedediah. After all, it was your idea."

Jedediah scowled at Harry, then looked at the little girl in annoyance. "We never went out anywhere. I was asleep in bed and Potter here went out to get a glass of water. Didn't you, Potter?"

Harry stayed quiet, glaring at the Slytherin. When he didn't reply, Jedediah got more annoyed, and hissed again, "Didn't you, Potter?"

Still, Harry said nothing. He wouldn't lie to a little girl, and he didn't want to keep lying to everybody else, either.

"Actually -"

"Harry?" Isabella came into the kitchen again, her hair combed and make-up in place. "You ready to go now?"

Harry quickly glanced at Jedediah, and nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready."

——

"You seem nervous," Isabella observed as she and Harry drove along the road to Sirius's house. "Why? It's just Sirius."

"I know," Harry replied with an uneasy laugh. "But after what I said to him, I'm not sure how he'll react. Does he know that I'm even coming?"

Isabella nodded in reply. "I called him yesterday. He seemed quite pleased about it, so I'm sure it won't be that bad."

Harry sighed and nodded. Suddenly, they were parked in the driveway of the familiar-looking white house.

"Go on," encouraged Isabella. "I'll come check in after. It'll be OK Harry, don't worry."

Harry smiled at Isabella as he took his seatbelt off. "Thanks, Mrs. Jessup. For letting me stay in your home, and feeding me …"

Isabella just smiled, motioning for him to get out of the car and into the house.

Harry stepped out and watched Isabella pull out of the driveway before he walked up to the door, stood on the threshold, and knocked.

Then he stopped. Why was he knocking? He lived here. He didn't have to knock.

Just as he was reaching out for the door handle, the door swung open, and Remus was standing in the doorway, a confused expression on his face. He also looked surprised.

"Harry? What are you doing knocking?"

Harry blushed. "Sorry Moony."

Remus gave his head a shake but opened the door wider, letting Harry in.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked casually.

"He's, uh … on the phone," Remus replied with a short laugh. "He's trying to convince Allyson not to come over."

Harry kept his mouth shut and nodded curtly. "I see."

Just then, Sirius came into the room, looking uncomfortable. "Er - Hi, Harry. Did you … knock?"

Harry nodded. "Sorry about that. I don't know why I knocked."

Sirius quickly shook his head. "It's … it's fine. Do you want to sit down? And talk?"

Harry gave his head a shake. "I'll stand."

Then there was silence, and sensing that it just needed to be Sirius and Harry, Remus quietly left.

"We really need to talk," Sirius said. "Really."

"I know," replied Harry. "That's why I'm here."

"Right." Sirius ran his fingers through his hair. "I want you to come back, Harry. I don't like us being so distant."

"I know," Harry said softly. "Neither do I. And to think it's all because of your girlfriend."

Sirius shook his head. "Don't blame this on Allyson, Harry. She did nothing to start this fight. It's all us; you and I."

"Sorry," Harry said. "I - sorry."

Sirius went forward, wrapping his arms around Harry in a hug.

"I don't like us fighting," Harry said, his voice muffled as he buried his head into Sirius's chest. "I keep remembering our first fight, and then after it … you know."

"I just want you back home," Sirius said quietly. "No more fights."

Harry nodded his head in agreement. "No more fights."

——

A few days had passed since Sirius and Harry had reconciled, and even though Allyson still came over frequently, Sirius did save time for him and Harry. Now, Harry was sitting at the table with Allyson, Remus and Sirius.

"Oh, you're leaving?" Allyson said to Remus, who had just announced that he was going to bed, with a pout. "That's too bad. I was having fun."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed with a smile, happy that Remus and Harry were getting along with Allyson. "You'll miss dessert!"

"Sorry," Remus apologized. "It's late and I'm tired. Save some for me, though."

"Bye, Moony," Harry said, startled as Sirius jumped up yelling, "Oh no! My pie is burning!"

"I thought I forbid you to ever use a stove?" Harry said with a smile.

Allyson, once Sirius had went over to the stove to save his pie, turned to look at Harry.

"So, what school do you go to?"

Harry had no clue what to tell her. He certainly couldn't tell her that he went to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I go to a good school," Harry finally said. "Very educational."

Allyson smiled, though it seemed forced. "How informative."

"I'm sorry to announce," Sirius said once he returned. "There will be no dessert tonight."

Allyson giggled and stood up. "No worries. I better be going, anyways. Like Remus said, it's late. I'll talk to you after?"

Harry turned away once Allyson had leaned in towards Sirius for a kiss. Somehow, he felt like he was intruding if he didn't.

Then he let out a cough and stood up. "I should be going to bed too. I'm, uh, very exhausted." As if to prove his point, Harry yawned, smiled, then, instead of going to his own room, he slipped into Remus's.

Harry let a small grin form on his lips as he noticed that Remus was indeed not asleep, but instead reading a book.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Remus asked, setting his book down on his lap. "Shouldn't you be out with Sirius and Allyson?"

"Shouldn't you?" Harry said with a shrug. "I left the same reason you did. That, and because Allyson was leaving anyways."

"I didn't mean to be rude," said Remus. "I couldn't just sit there anymore. It was so quiet. Definitely unlike when it's just the three of us."

Harry nodded and climbed onto Remus's bed, going up beside him. "What book are you reading, Moony?"

"A Muggle book," Remus replied, picking the book back up.

"Is it any good?"

"Well, yes," Remus said. "I suppose. It's worth reading when you're bored, anyway."

Harry looked down at the sheets before looking back up at Remus, hesitating before he asked his question. "Do you think, Moony … that is, if Sirius and Allyson ever get married, perhaps … well, do you think that if they do get married that we'll be doing this every suppertime?" he asked. "Or every lunch?"

"You mean making up an excuse to leave?" Harry nodded, and Remus didn't know what to say. "Well, I'm not sure."

"I hope not," Harry said, then the room was filled with silence, until Sirius opened the door.

"Is a party going on in here, and nobody invited me?" Sirius said, pretending to be hurt. "It's never a party without me."

Harry laughed. "No party, Padfoot. Just talking."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Remus, who was still holding onto his book. "I thought it was late? And you were tired?"

Remus hesitated before he answered. "I was, but then I realized that I never finished this book so … I thought I'd finish it."

Then Sirius turned to Harry. "Come on, kid. Let's hear your excuse."

Harry, too, hesitated before he answered, and tried to come up with an excuse that sounded almost as realistic as Remus's.

"I needed to, ah … do something," Harry muttered lamely. "Y'know, talk to M - Moony about something."

Sirius leaned against the doorframe, looking highly amused. "What did you need to talk to Mr Moony about?"

"Erm … How he can make such a good, uh, Roast—Roast Chicken?"

Remus frowned and looked at Harry. "I've never made Roast Chicken."

Harry glared at Remus. "You were planning to, remember?"

Remus looked confused as he shook his head, obviously not getting what Harry was saying. "No, I wasn't planning on making a roast chicken."

"Nice try," Sirius said with a laugh. "Why did you two decide to have this little meeting without me?"

"It's not a meeting," Harry said quickly. "I was just passing by Remus's room on the way to my room, and I noticed that he was reading, so I decided to come in here and talk to him."

Sirius still looked confused. "How could you pass by Remus's room on the way to your room? Remus's room is after yours, not before."

"I was on my way to the bathroom," Harry corrected. "Not my room. Who said my room?"

"Harry," Sirius said warningly. "What's going on?"

Harry didn't want to start another fight by telling Sirius that he still didn't trust Allyson, so he was trying to avoid that. So, to evade that, Harry tried to stall.

"Er - what were we talking about?"

Sirius said, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "Come on, you two. I don't like being left out in the cold."

"It's nothing, really," Remus said gently. "Harry and I were just talking. You two do it all the time, I think I should have my turns, too."

Sirius looked at Remus then Harry, before nodding. "All right. Can I join your talk now?"

Harry nodded brightly. "Sure. We were just talking about Roast Chicken."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Harry, who kept a straight face, then at Remus, who immediately went back to his book.

"Roast Chicken? What about it?"

"It's, uh, very good," Harry said as convincingly as he could. "Y'know … it's good."

"Uh-huh," Sirius said with a nod. "Why don't I believe that?"

Harry then yawned, glancing at Remus, who was still paying no attention to anything except the book.

"I'm really exhausted now. Maybe we could talk tomorrow, you two? It's been a very long day, so … goodnight."

He jumped up from the bed, making his way back to his own room, thinking the whole time that if Sirius and Allyson McGregor got married, that maybe they would be making excuses to leave the dinner table at every possible chance.

——

A/N: Well, review and tell me what you think of it. Next chapter should be up as soon as I can type it up and post it.