May 28th, 1995

"That absolute prat!" Sirius roared from the kitchen, startling me so badly that I dropped the cup of tea I was holding all over the floor. And I had just made it too, I thought bitterly.

"Fuck," I cursed quietly, looking down at the mess I had made. I waved my wand and cleared up the mess before I raised my voice and called to Sirius, "What's wrong, babe?"

Sirius came storming in to the living room, clutching a piece of parchment in his hand. His face was beet red and he was glaring at the parchment as though it had personally offended him.

"He is a conceited, overconfident, bigheaded wanker," Sirius spat, glaring at the parchment again so furiously I was shocked it didn't catch on fire under the heat of his glare.

"Scrimgeour?" I asked cautiously, assuming he had just received a letter from work – he had been called in to work early every day for the last two weeks, so hearing angry muttering from the kitchen first thing in the morning was not unusual in Oak Place lately.

"What?" Sirius asked distractedly, as though he had never heard his boss's name before. "No, not him. James's fucking kid, that's who!"

"Harry sent a letter? Is he okay?" I asked, walking over to Sirius and grabbing the letter from his fisted hands. "And don't talk about him like that, you prat."

"Read what he did last night, and then tell me that you don't think he's a massive wanker, just like his stupid dad," Sirius challenged me, nodding his head towards the letter I was now holding. My eyes scanned the letter quickly – Crouch had been on Hogwarts's grounds late last night, acting insane, although he had apparently been too sick to judge the second task. He had been desperately asking for Dumbledore, talking about the Dark Lord and Harry, and then switching to believing he was giving work instructions to Percy. By the time Harry and Dumbledore had made their way back to the forest, Krum had been stunned and Crouch was nowhere to be seen. It was just the latest in odd occurrences concerning Barty Crouch – Harry had written a couple of weeks ago that he had seen Crouch on the Marauder's Map wandering around the castle late at night, but then he hadn't shown up days later for the second task.

"I mean it's definitely odd, don't you think? That Crouch was well enough to check Snape's office a couple of weeks ago, then skipped the second task, and then showed up acting nuts?"

"Who cares about that?" Sirius asked, incredulous that I would be focusing on that part of the letter. "He wandered off, alone, with Krum! I'm writing back to him right now."

I hadn't even thought about that, I realized with a shock. I had to start thinking like we were at war again – the times of blindly trusting the intentions of the people around you were over. "Fuck. I didn't even think about that," I admitted with a groan. "Okay, write back – but be nice, Sirius! Do not call him a wanker." I warned with a stern glare.

"Can I call him a prat?" Sirius asked difficultly, already pulling a fresh sheet of parchment, quill and ink out from the desk in the corner of the living room.

"Sirius," I warned. Sirius looked at me over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at the stern expression on my face.

"Fine. I won't call him any names, but I am going to let him know how absolutely idiotic he is being." I couldn't argue with that, so I didn't say anything while Sirius furiously wrote his reply. I wandered in to the kitchen to finish making breakfast – Sirius had left a pan of eggs on the stove when the owl had arrived, and the eggs had burned past the point of recognition. I vanished the mess with a flick of my wand and took out the tray of eggs to scramble some more for him before he went in to work.

Sirius came back in to the kitchen, muttering under his breath; I took the letter out of his hands and exchanged it with a plate of eggs. "Sit. Eat." I demanded, pushing him down in to a kitchen chair.

I scanned the letter, written in Sirius's familiar beautiful penmanship

Harry – what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed.

Your name didn't get in to the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice stunning and disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again.

Sirius

I picked up the quill that Sirius had dropped on the kitchen table and added my own section at the bottom of the parchment.

Harry, listen to your godfather, even though it may seem hypocritical for him to tell you not to stray out-of-bounds – he's worried about you. We both are. I'm telling you not to stray out-of-bounds – if you won't listen to him, listen to me. Your safety is paramount, and we don't want you taking any risks when there is someone out there trying to harm you. Give my love to Hollyn, hug Ron and Hermione for us and don't let Fred and George bet on the third task. We love you. Addie

"Okay, good to go," I said, giving the letter back to Sirius so he could attach it to our beautiful black owl, Hades. Sirius had brought Hades home after work one day, citing that he was tired of having to borrow a Ministry owl and worried that his letters would be searched. He felt safer having an owl of our own to use – one that he felt more confident wouldn't be intercepted.

Sirius scanned over what I had written and snorted. "Yeah, like you weren't out of bounds just as much as I was."

"Much less! I barely pranked anyone, and I wasn't the one gallivanting around the forest once a month with a werewolf!"

"Fair point," Sirius chuckled as he attached the letter to Hades' leg. "Best time of my life, though."

"Right, what a wonderful thing to tell your wife," I rolled my eyes playfully, knowing that he was poking fun at me.

"Sorry, kitten. Moony had my heart first," He said, clutching his chest dramatically. His face fell however and he stared down at his plate morosely. "I'm so fucking angry at Harry, Addie. How can he be so stupid? After everything we've done all year – all of the times we've warned him to be careful, all of the times we've tried to impress upon him the severity of how dangerous this situation is. How can he just ignore all of that?"

I walked up behind Sirius and put my arms around him. I kissed the top of his head. "I know, love. But he's a teenaged boy who thinks he is invincible. Remember how you were at that age? You became an illegal animagus so that you and your two other underage best friends could run around with your fourth best friend who happened to be a werewolf!"

"That's different! Nobody was trying to kill me!" Sirius protested hotly.

"No, it's not. You put yourself in a dangerous situation because you didn't think you could possibly get hurt. Harry isn't thinking that everyone out there is trying to hurt him – he knows abstractly that someone is trying to hurt him, but he doesn't grasp that it could be literally anyone."

"I just want him to be safe," Sirius said with an air of defeat. I rubbed his back consolingly.

"So do I. But yelling at him isn't going to make understand that. He is still a teenager – and a boy, for that matter. Are you still hungry?" Sirius nodded, his mouth full of eggs, so I smoothed his hair back gently and walked over to make some toast. I was just buttering a stack of toast when someone spoke from the fire. I jumped about a foot in the air, and turned to see Arthur's head sitting in the middle of the fire.

"Sorry, Addie," Arthur apologized for startling me. "Sirius, Scrimgeour is on the rampage looking for you – said you were supposed to be in fifteen minutes ago. I managed to convince him that you were waylaid by the Department of International Cooperation to make a statement about the World Cup, but he's going to expect to see you ASAP."

"Shit," Sirius cursed, looking at his watch. "Shit, we got a letter from Harry this morning and I completely forgot I told him I'd be in early today. Thanks, Arthur. Sorry, love, I've got to run. Thanks for breakfast." He kissed me on the lips quickly before grabbing his jacket and walking in to the garden to disapparate.

"What did Harry have to say that has Sirius in such a state?" Arthur asked. I explained the situation to him, and that Sirius felt he was being stupid by letting his guard down around Krum.

"I don't know," Arthur said, looking deep in thought. "You really think Krum could be behind it?"

"I don't know. But I don't want him taking any chances with people he doesn't know until we know for sure who is behind all of this," I shrugged. There was a commotion on the other end of the fire and Arthur turned his head and addressed someone that I couldn't hear.

"Again?" Arthur asked. "Shit. Sorry, Addie. Regurgitating toilet in the middle of London – third one this week. I have to take care of this."

"Bit of toast for the road?" I asked, gesturing the stack of toast that Sirius hadn't even touched.

"Oh, all right then," Arthur agreed. I shoved a piece into his mouth and he thanked me with his mouth full before popping out of the fireplace.

Over the next several weeks, Sirius wrote daily letters to Harry, offering him advice on different spells and hexes to study. I popped on occasionally offering words of encouragement and reminding Harry how much we loved him. It was obvious Harry was not used to affection, as he never quite responded to our words of love in the same way that Hollyn or any of the Weasleys did. I made it my mission to make sure he never went another day in his life wondering if he was loved.

Hollyn had written to me, filling me in on everything that had been happening behind the scenes that Harry wasn't telling us. She told us that Hermione had been sent hate mail after the Skeeter article had come out insinuating that she was playing with Harry's feelings by dating Krum. I had sent Hermione a giant gift basket from Honeydukes with a note telling her that all of those losers wished they had the chosen one and a world famous Quidditch star fighting over them. Hermione had written back a lovely thank you note, and let me know that the teasing had died down a little ever since Ginny had hexed a Ravenclaw so badly that he ended up in the hospital wing with worms coming out of his ears. Sirius had sent Ginny a giant box of chocolates upon hearing this, and had begged her to send him the details of the hex by return owl.

Hollyn had also told us that Harry, Ron and Hermione were spending every spare second practicing, and that she was contributing by allowing Harry to practice stunning her over and over again. I took that to mean that her and Ginny were still not on the best terms, but I was glad that Hollyn and Harry were spending some time together.

Sirius was getting more and more anxious with every passing day. He was up and out at work early, home late, and spent all night furiously writing letters to Harry and cursing under his breath. On top of that, we were still taking every chance we could to try to conceive – something that Sirius was very adamant about. "If we always put everything on hold when someone we loved was in danger, we would literally never do anything." He had chuckled when I had brought up my concerns that maybe she would try to scale back on the baby front. I knew that it was something he really wanted and talking about it was the only time Sirius looked happy lately; and if I was being honest, it was something that I had realized I really wanted too. Every month that I found out I wasn't pregnant was getting harder and harder.

It was really taking a toll on me that I wasn't pregnant yet – especially seeing Ellie get bigger and bigger with every passing day. To top it off, I felt like I was stuck at home with nothing to do but sulk and think. Every day Sirius went to work and left me home alone to figure out how to fill my days. I missed my days of playing Quidditch and having something to do every day, something that made me feel fulfilled. Ellie was so busy with the pregnancy and her two kids still at home, that we barely ever had a chance to get together during the day. I spent a lot of my time with Molly, helping her around the house and letting her teach me some good cleaning spells that I had never bothered to learn before. We spent a lot of time baking together too, and exchanging stories of our time at Hogwarts. For someone so intent on propriety, Molly and Arthur had their fair share of late night rendezvous to speak of.

I was at The Burrow the day before the third task absentmindedly flipping through "Handy Hacks for the Housewife" when I came across a spell to remove blood stains from clothing; I continued absentmindedly flipping through the book when it hit me in the face like a ton of bricks.

"Molly?" I called breathlessly, the excitement ripping through my entire body like a wildfire.

"Yes, dear?" Molly called back from her spot in the kitchen peeling carrots.

"What day is it today?"

"June 23rd, dear."

I did some quick math, counting backwards to see when my last period had been. I realized with a shock that I was late – very late. "Holy shit," I whispered. "Holy shit!" I repeated myself, much louder.

"Addison!" Molly scolded, bustling out of the kitchen with disapproval written all over her face.

"Sorry, Molly." I apologized quickly. "But I just realized…but I should do a test first to confirm…oh, Sirius is going to be so happy!" I squealed, throwing my arms around Molly in complete joy.

"You're pregnant?" Molly asked hopefully.

"I'm late. And I'm never late. Oh my goodness, I need to go see my Dad and have him do a test," I fumbled, feeling like a chicken without its head. I felt frazzled, like it was too good to be true.

"Oh sweetheart, you think I had seven kids and don't know how to perform a simple sonogram spell? Sit down," Molly ordered. She pulled her long wand out of her robe pocket and waved it at me. She seemed to understand what she was looking for in the diagnostics that appeared in the air, for she looked at them for just a few moments before waving her wand and cancelling the charm.

I was nervous, realizing that whatever she said next had the potential to drastically change my life. I felt as though my entire life was on a precipice right now, waiting to tip either to the right or left – a move that would determine the rest of my life's course.

Molly turned to me with tears in her eyes, and she nodded at me softly. I immediately started crying, tears of complete and utter joy taking over my body. It was immediate relief, knowing that something Sirius and I had been trying for was finally coming true. I was going to get to tell him that he was going to be a father – something that I was deprived of getting to do with Hollyn. And he was finally going to get to experience the inner dread that all first-time fathers feel – the lucky sod had gotten away without that part, and I wanted to make sure that he got the full experience this time. "Congratulations, dear. You're definitely pregnant!" She said as she pulled me in to her arms. "Oh I am so happy for you. Sirius is going to be completely thrilled. Are you going to tell him tonight?"

I thought about it, knowing that I had to make it special for him. "No," I decided. "He's so nervous and on edge about the tournament, I think it will be better to wait until it's over."

"Oh, you have to make it special. When I told Arthur that I was pregnant with the twins, I was holding a screaming Percy while Charlie and Bill tried to beat each other to death with their toy broomsticks. I think I had to tell him three times before he actually heard me," Molly said fondly.

"What did he say?" I asked, having never heard this story before.

"He told me that we already had three, what was two more," Molly chuckled. "Little did he know those two would really put us through our paces."

"Speaking of your kids," I began. Molly turned her attention back to me, cocking an eyebrow.

"What did Fred and George do?" She began hotly. "I swear if they managed to actually send you a toilet seat, I am going to lose it – they've been threatening to do it for years, and I know they would think Sirius would find it funny. "

"Well, he actually would find it hilarious," I admitted, already able to see the ecstatic expression on Sirius's face knowing the twins had actually posted him a toilet seat. "But no, Fred and George actually didn't do anything this time. I wanted to talk to you about Ginny. Has she said anything to you about Hollyn?"

"No," Molly said. "Her letters have been the same as always – she always mentions Hollyn, talks about how Harry is doing, and complains about Ron."

"Hmm…" I muttered. "Hollyn has been making it seem like maybe something is going on. I don't know if it's just Ginny growing up and branching out, but I just worry that Hollyn isn't doing the same and that she's getting upset."

Molly nodded. "I'll talk to her about it. You know her and Hollyn have always been attached at the hip. I'm sure it's nothing serious."

"Thanks, Mol. Like I said, it's completely normal that Ginny would want to make some more friends and hang out with more than just her cousin, but I'm worried about Hollyn at the same time."

"Of course. Hollyn is such a sensitive girl, always has been, and she's been through so much this year. Sirius coming back in to her life, having Harry move in, and now a new little sibling on the way – she's bound to be affected. I'll make sure Ginny does a better job checking in on her and being there for her. She needs her best friend right now."

"I really hope she'll be okay with this," I said, realizing that I never considered she might not want to have a little sibling.

"She will be," Molly assured me. "She loves you, and she loves Sirius too. It's going to take her time to adjust, but she will. Bill needed time to adjust to Ginny when we told him, and he had already been through it a million times by then."

I went home a short while later, after stopping by my Dad's work and having him perform an official test on me – confirming for sure that I was about three weeks pregnant. I was completely overjoyed, and walked in to our house feeling as though I was walking on air. I walked in to our living room and saw that Sirius was already home, extremely early for him.

"Hey, kitten!" Sirius said, jumping up out of his chair and pulling me in to his arms. He kissed me enthusiastically. "Where were you?"

"I was at The Burrow."

"How's Molly doing? Excited for tomorrow?" Sirius asked. He had managed to get us a couple of extra tickets for the task through work so that Molly and Bill could come watch with us.

"I think we're all going to sleep better when this is all over," I admitted. I was having such a hard time concealing the grin that I had been sporting all day – but I knew that I wanted to wait to tell him until he was done worrying about Harry.

"You know what will help me sleep better?" Sirius asked, a seductive smile on his lips.

"Ohhh? What's that?" I asked playfully, loving the energy that Sirius was giving off.

"Going upstairs and making a baby," Sirius said, picking me up so suddenly that I was forced to wrap my legs around his waist. He was already halfway upstairs before I could even think of what to say to him. Fuck it, I decided. No need to tell him that we had already made a baby – why spoil the surprise?