August 3rd, 1996
Harry and Hollyn's birthday had been a quiet affair – just the Weasleys who were living in Grimmauld Place, Bill, Fleur and Tonks. Remus was still underground with the werewolves, so Tonks spent the majority of the evening sulking in the corner. Her hair was a mousy brown, her skin was palled and the circles underneath her eyes were pronounced – I wished Remus would just grow up, come home, and talk to her. Fred and George had owled earlier this afternoon that they were sorry, but the shop was too busy for them to get away. Hollyn had pouted when she read the letter – Fred and George were like her older brothers, she'd always been very close to them, but she hadn't seen them much this summer. It was good that their business was booming, but we missed their smiling faces around the house. Hollyn's mood, however, had brightened when a second owl had arrived for her. She'd taken the parchment and run upstairs before any of us could so much as glance at her. When she'd come back downstairs twenty minutes later, there was a smile plastered on her lips and she was wearing a brand new (expensive looking) golden bracelet.
The kid's school lists had arrived the next day, and although we had all been putting off going in to Diagon Alley, we no longer had that luxury. The screaming match Molly got in to with Arthur when he came home that night had been legendary – she had insisted he take the day off of work to accompany us, and he had been adamant that he simply couldn't afford to. He had been promoted, now that Scrimgeour was Minister, and was being called to all corners of the country to investigate different counterfeit dark items. After their conversation, it appeared they had come to a compromise…and Arthur had taken the day off of work. Sirius had then arranged with Dumbledore to have Hagrid meet us as extra security, although with the four of us already going, I wasn't so sure we needed it. Plus, Hagrid would only draw more attention to our group, which I knew we were all trying to avoid.
When I voiced my concerns to Sirius, he told me I was being naïve and had stalked away from me to check on Eliana. It wasn't often that Sirius was the more cautious of the two of us, so I figured maybe I was being reckless. Sirius had come back to the drawing room a little while later, his breath smelling of firewhiskey, and Eliana asleep in his arms. I didn't say anything. He was worried about us leaving the protections of the house, and making comments that undermined his security efforts wasn't helping his nerves. He was second guessing himself, when he had no reason to. I was the one who needed to get on board – things were bad again, and the more cautious we could be, the better.
We woke up early and started getting ready. I could tell Sirius was nervous, because as I was leaving the bathroom so that he could jump in the shower, he had pulled me in with him and held me in his arms while the warm water beat against my back. He just held me for a while, his face in the crook of my neck, his wet hair falling like a curtain around his face. After a minute, I reached in front of me and squeezed shampoo in to my hands. I started lathering Sirius's hair, running my fingers through his hair and scratching his head lightly. After the soap had lathered up, I turned us so that Sirius's head was underneath the spray of the water. Sirius leaned his head back and I ran my fingers through his hair to make sure all of the shampoo was out. Sirius looked at me, his grey eyes wide, trailing the length of my naked body.
He twirled his finger, gesturing for me to turn around. I felt him reach around me, his hand brushing my ribcage, as he reached for the bottle of shampoo. He squeezed some in to his hands before washing my hair as I had washed his. His fingers felt so good against my scalp, that I groaned and dropped my head backwards against his chest. He was standing right behind me, and I felt his erection grow as he held me to him. He took a step back, forcing me to step with him, so that I was now standing underneath the water. He ran his fingers through my hair, washing the shampoo out. When he was satisfied, he wrapped his arms around me, one low on my stomach and one around my chest. I felt his thumb brush one of my nipples, and I jumped as a shock went through me at the touch. It had been so long since Sirius and I had been together – after the Department of Mysteries, we had both taken time to heal and process what we had learned. We needed each other and comforted each other, but our touches had been innocent. We had cuddled, held hands, and exchanged small touches – we had been there for each other in the way we needed. A steady presence, solid – but not intimate.
I could tell that Sirius needed me in this way today. I could tell that Sirius needed me, wanted me, to help stem the anxiety he was feeling. Innocent touches wouldn't be enough – he needed to claim me, to know that I was truly his and that I wasn't going anywhere. As Sirius played with my nipple, I felt my own need for him growing. I gasped when the hand that was wrapped around my stomach traveled downwards, his finger flicking my clit. I was overly sensitive, and I felt myself starting to heat from the middle up towards my head and down towards my head.
"Sirius," I moaned, trying futilely to turn in his arms. He just tightened his hold on me, his finger moving faster around my clit as he flicked and pulled at my nipple.
"No, kitten," He said, as I struggled to break his hold. "I want to feel you come apart for me first."
His words went right through my, sending a shock to my clit that intensified the feeling of his fingers. I started breathing heavily, quickly, as I started building towards my peak. Sirius leaned down and starting sucking on my neck. The feeling was incredible, hot and wet and steamy. I had missed him, and I hadn't realized how much until he was touching me.
"Fuck," I moaned, my head dropping on to his shoulder and my eyes fluttering shut. "I forgot."
"Forgot what, kitten?" He purred in to my ear, his fingers never breaking their relentless attack.
"Forgot…" I repeated, forgetting what I was about to say mid thought as a wave of pleasure rolled through my body. "I forgot…."
"What did you forget, Addison?" Sirius asked again, trailing his nose down from my ear to the crook of my neck, where he started sucking on my pulse point.
I was climbing higher and higher, the pleasure indescribable. "Forgot how much I need this," I said finally, getting the sentence out between my gasps and moans.
"What do you need, baby?" He asked, his voice low and husky.
"I need…" I said, quickly approaching my climax. "I need….I need you to fuck me!"
Sirius waited until I had screamed again, this time the pleasure breaking throughout my body. I clenched against him as I rode my high, my head resting on his shoulder.
"Bend over," He said, once I had stopped shaking. I wasted no time in doing so, gasping as I felt him slide in from behind me. It wasn't slow, it wasn't loving. It was hard and fast – desperate. The water was beating against me in a panicked staccato as Sirius thrusted quickly. He leaned over my back so that he could continue playing with my clit. In no time, I was climaxing again – and with one last thrust, Sirius followed me into bliss.
After we had both caught our breaths, we quickly washed ourselves off and stepped out of the shower. Sirius wrapped me in a towel, before kissing me deeply.
"I really needed that," He said, laughing. I chuckled too, holding the towel around my body and shivering in the cold air.
"Me too," I agreed. "Merlin, it's been months."
"Never again," Sirius chuckled. He glanced at the clock on the wall and winced. "Come on, let's get going. Molly will have a cow if we're not ready to go in ten minutes. Plus, I worked up a bit of an appetite so I want a bite to eat before we leave." He winked at me before exiting the bathroom, his own towel hanging loosely around his hips.
We made our way in to the basement five minutes later, after checking on Eliana, walking in to see that everyone but Ron and Harry had beaten us downstairs.
"Good morning," Hollyn said in a bright voice, looking over the top of her stack of toast.
"Morning, pup," Sirius said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Morning, Molly!" He said as Molly shoved a stack of toast in his hands.
"Mornin'" Molly said, distracted as she pushed open the door and said exasperatedly, "where are the boys? I want to leave, get this over with."
"I saw Harry coming out of the bathroom when I was coming downstairs," Ginny supplied. "He should be down soon."
"I hope so – does anyone know if Ron is awake?"
"I'll go check on them," Bill said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and pushing his chair back from the table. "Mum, get everyone else ready."
"Zat is my Bill," Fleur said affectionately. "Always so helpful!"
"Yeah, he's a real treat," Ginny rolled her eyes. "He just wants us gone so he can get some sleep. He got home from work just when we were all coming downstairs. He hasn't slept a wink," Ginny said, turning to me and Sirius to explain.
"Well, I will be watching baby Eliana, so I should zink he will be able to sleep!" Fleur sniffed. "Zat baby is always so calm when she is with me."
"She's always calm," Hollyn said with a slight huff. "Regardless of who's holding her." Sirius smoothed Hollyn's hair back in a slight warning, although he looked more amused than anything. Fleur opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment the basement door opened and Ron and Harry came rushing in.
"Right!" Molly said quickly, interrupting the fight that was brewing. "Time to go! No, I'm sorry, Ronald. You missed breakfast."
Ron opened his eyes wide, having never been denied a meal his entire life. I saw Sirius slip a stack of toast in to Harry's hand, and I smiled. I knew Harry would share. "Come on!" I said. "Time to go! Fleur, thank you for watching Eliana for us. We'll be back in a flash."
"It iz no problem," Fleur said in a slightly wounded voice. "I will go look after her now."
"Thanks, Fleur," Sirius said kindly, watching as Fleur left the room without looking at anyone else.
The kids all lined up behind Arthur, who went first. Sirius and I went last, Sirius ushering me in to the fireplace with a gentle hand on the back. He popped out of the fireplace seconds after I did, and immediately grabbed hold of my hand and we rejoined the rest of the group outside, where they had met up with Hagrid.
Molly had the idea that we split up – Arthur and Hagrid went with Hermione, Ron and Harry to Madam Malkin's while the rest of us went to Flourish and Blotts to pick up everyone's books. Sirius stood at the door, his head flying back between us as we waited in line and Madam Malkin's where he could just see Hagrid standing guard outside of the shop. His head was moving so quickly that he was getting strange looks from the rest of bookshop's patrons, but I knew he didn't care what anyone thought about him. His usually carefree attitude had not translated to our excursion today – I think the Department of Mysteries had convinced him that he needed to stop being so reckless.
Molly was just finishing up paying for Ron and Ginny's books in front of me, while the kids stood off to the side in a huddle. Ginny had met up with Dean Thomas, her current boyfriend, and was saying an enthusiastic hello that I doubt her mother would approve of. Hollyn was glaring at the two of them in abject jealousy, which made me wonder if Dean was the boy she had been writing all summer. But she wouldn't do that to Ginny…would she?
"Next," the cashier said, and I walked up with my purchases. I dropped the stack of books on the counter, grateful that Harry didn't need too many new ones, and waited patiently while the small wizard behind the till tallied everything up. After handing over the money, I grabbed the heavy parcel and turned to see Molly pulling a red-faced Ginny away from Dean, while Hollyn walked behind her, a smirk hiding on her face.
"Completely inappropriate Ginevra," Molly said, her own face heating up. "If this is the way you're going to behave at Hogwarts, then I don't think you need to be coming to Fred and George's with us!"
"Mum!" Ginny shrieked. "That's not fair!"
"If you don't stop right now, young lady, you'll see just how unfair I can really be," Molly hissed, opening the door and gesturing for Sirius to go first. He exited the store, his eyes roaming looking for Harry. Arthur and Hagrid were walking towards us, the kids following them. Ginny had stopped talking when she saw Harry, not wanting her mother to continue yelling at her about her boyfriend in front of the boy she secretly had feelings for. Feelings were so easy when you were watching from the outside, I swear.
"Everything alright?" Sirius asked, and Arthur nodded.
"The kids ran in to the Malfoys. Wands were drawn, but I managed to put a stop to that quickly," Arthur said, eyeing Harry.
"The Malfoys? What did they want?" I asked, turning towards Harry, at the same time Hollyn exclaimed, "Wands?" I spared her a glance, and her face looked horrified. I was too – Malfoys and wands didn't mix well together.
Harry shifted his eyes, but Arthur interrupted before he could answer. "Oh, just an unpleasant conversation…no use… getting in to it." He shot me and Sirius a look that told us he would talk to us about it later, so I let it drop.
"Wait, but…" Sirius protested, but I put my hand on his back and rubbed slightly, letting him know that he should drop it too.
"Right well, I think just a quick stop at Eeylops Owl Emporium – Ronald, you need some owl teats – and then the Apothecary for potion supplies. Ginny, I know you wanted a new cauldron, but I really think you'll just have to make due – those books really set us back this year and with everything going on…." Molly trailed off, checking her coin purse. I knew that although Arthur had gotten a raise, and with only two kids left to look after, things were still tight for Molly and Arthur.
"But Mum, my cauldron has a giant hole in the bottom!" Ginny protested. "Turns out Percy was right about that, after all. Prat."
"Don't talk about your brother like that," Arthur said absentmindedly, guiding Molly in to Eeylops.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'll look at it when we get home. Maybe I can fix it with some Mulberry Magical Paste," Molly mused, walking through the door Arthur was holding open for her.
"We'll get you a cauldron," I offered, eyeing Molly, daring her to try to tell me no.
"Oh, no we can't possibly –" Molly protested, holding the door open, her arms full of parcels and her hair flying around wildly.
"We won't take no for an answer," Sirius said. "Ginny, Hollyn – you come with us. We'll meet the rest of you at Fred and George's." Before Molly or Arthur could try to protest again, Sirius had taken off, Ginny in tow. I shrugged and gestured for Hollyn to follow me, taking off behind Sirius and Ginny. The cauldron shop was just down the alley, and we were in and out in minutes – there were only so many different types of cauldrons and Ginny wasn't picky. I think she was just happy to finally have something new – something that was just hers.
"Thanks again, Aunt Addie, Sirius," Ginny said happily.
"Not a problem," Sirius said, shrinking down the cauldron and placing it in his pocket. "Come on, I'm dying to get to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
We walked quickly down the alleyway, and just a couple of minutes later, the shop appeared before us. It was…completely brilliant, and the bright storefront was in complete contrast with the dreariness of the rest of Diagon Alley. It was bright and colorful and cheerful; even from down the street we could hear bangs and whistles coming from the open glass doors. There was a magenta top hat at the top of a winding glass turret, and the hat was spinning while playing some sort of jingle. People were spilling in and out of the front doors, and as we approached, we could tell that it was absolutely packed. It was crazy how different their shop was from the rest of Diagon Alley – where the rest of the alley was almost abandoned, the joke shop was clearly a destination.
"Wow," I whispered, grabbing hold of Sirius's sleeve.
"I know!" Sirius squealed in excitement, practically bouncing on his heels. He was almost vibrating – without warning, he took off and rushed in to the store. I followed behind him, and Ginny and Hollyn separated off towards a section in the corner that was particularly pink. I scanned the crowd and saw that Sirius had made his way through the crowd to the back of the store, where he was looking at a display of shield robes that George had been telling us about at dinner a couple of weeks ago.
I spotted Fred explaining a product to a young Hogwarts age kid, and the kid nodded and flounced off as Fred spotted me. "Aunt Addie! You made it! Where's everyone else?"
"Hollyn and Ginny are in the back corner," I said, pointing to the two girls who were now holding up identical heart shaped bottles and whispering to each other.
"Better watch out for those two," George said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
Fred craned his neck, realizing where the two girls were. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Our own line of love potions – very effective. Although, I hear neither of them are in need of it."
"Sirius is checking out the shield cloaks. I think he's going to buy one for the entire family. He's been talking about them for weeks," I chuckled.
"We'll give him the family discount – 10% off for everyone but Ron," George said, pursing his lips and looking to Fred for approval. Fred nodded once solemnly.
"Why not Ron?" I asked, dipping my head to avoid a flying airplane that had just zoomed past. A couple of kids ran after it, giggling. Fred watched them with narrowed eyes; I'd noticed that while both Fred and George were attentive to our conversation, they were watching the store with hawklike eyes.
"Don't want to give him a big head. If he wants something, he can work for it, like we did," George said solemnly.
"Didn't Harry give you the money to start up?" I asked impishly.
"Well…yes," Fred said, scratching the back of his head. "But the ideas are all 100% ours through hard work and dedication!" Fred replied, much more brightly.
"Very true," I said. "Very proud of you both!" I brought them both in for a quick hug, kissing their cheeks. Fred blushed an impressive shade of red, and George squirmed slightly when he saw an attractive blonde walk past.
"Come on, Aunt Addie. Mum's just walked in and she's going to do the same now that she's seen you do it," George said, pulling out of my grasp.
"Just so proud. Sirius will be over soon to tell you how brilliant you both are, but I assure you he won't hug you," I winked at them, releasing them and walking over to see what Hollyn was looking at.
Hollyn and Ginny had their fingers in a cage which was full of what seemed like round, fluffy, colorful balls. They were rolling around the cage, making this cute squeaking noise and looking up at us with huge round eyes.
"Hi Mum!" Hollyn said. "Look at how cute these are – Pygmy Puffs! How cute are they?"
"Super cute," I said, leaning down to take a closer look. They came in assorted colors – pink, purple, light green, light yellow, turquoise.
"Can I have one? To bring to Hogwarts with me?" Hollyn asked, her face lighting up as she looked at one yellow puff rolling around and hitting in to the corners of the cage. I hadn't seen her look so…innocent, in such a long time, that I immediately nodded.
"Yes, of course, so long as your father is okay with it. But you do have to promise to take care of it. Your father and I have too much going on, taking care of your sister," I warned her.
"Of course! Dad, look how cute!" She said excitedly, grabbing Sirius's hand. He looked around bewildered, having just wandered over to see what we were doing. He had a pile of cloaks over his arm, but allowed Hollyn to pull him in front of the cage, looking slightly harassed.
"Very cuddly," Sirius said nodding.
"Mum said I could have one! Can I?" She asked, tugging on his sleeve slightly.
"Well, if your mother says you can, I see no reason why not," Sirius said, looking at me to confirm. When I smiled at him encouragingly, he leaned closer to the cage and pointed to a purple puff who was sitting in the center of the cage, its tiny head turned slightly to the left as it looked up at Sirius with round, clear eyes. "What about that one?"
Hollyn turned her head side to side, deliberating. But then she shrugged and said, "I like that yellow one. I think he's funny." The yellow one was rolling in place, completely ignoring the rest of the animals who were all pruning for Sirius's attention.
"Well, I like that purple one," Ginny said suddenly, her brown eyes searching the store for her mom. "I think I'll ask Mum if I can have one, too."
Molly came over to us after being ushered over by Ginny. "I just can't find those three anywhere," she said, huffing. "I sent Arthur to look for them, it is so crowded in here. I'm just so proud of the boys, look at how well they're doing!"
"Mum, look!" Ginny interrupted her. "They're called Pygmy Puffs! Hollyn is going to get that yellow one, and I'd really like one too, if that's okay?"
"What is a Pygmy Puff?" Molly said, squinting to read the sign placed on top of their cage.
"Miniature Puffskeins!" Fred said, coming up behind us. "Very cuddly, and very sweet too. Obedient as well – we find that they're extremely intelligent when trained properly."
"How much are they?" Molly asked.
"5 galleons, 4 for family," Fred supplied. "Comes with their very own cage, and a supply of food to last the next couple of weeks."
"I don't know…4 galleons is a little steep, Ginny," Molly said, debating.
"I understand," Ginny said, smiling slightly at her mother, although I could sense her disappointment. I caught Fred's eye and winked at him. He caught on immediately and cleared his throat.
"For my favorite sister, I think we can part with one, free of charge," Fred said jovially.
"Really?" Ginny asked, her face lighting up as she looked up at him.
"Of course. I couldn't make my own mother pay for something in our shop – for where would we be without her! I'll just pop in the back and grab a cage."
"Two!" I said. "We're going to get Hollyn one, too."
"On it," Fred said. He popped in the back to grab cages and was back in a second. He opened the top of the cage and picked up the purple one for Ginny and the yellow one for Hollyn. As he passed the cage over to me, I pressed a stack of gold in to his hands – more than enough to cover Ginny's pet as well.
Fred winked at me, slipping the money slyly into his pocket so that his mother was none the wiser. "Take care to treat them well. We can't breed them fast enough for how quickly they're going out the door."
Fred disappeared to help out a customer whose eyebrows had been singed off, and Sirius wandered over to George to pay for his cloaks. Hollyn, Molly and Ginny were cooing at their new pets, and I took the moment to search the store for Harry, Hermione and Ron. I spotted them in the back of the store and breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't left the store – like Molly and I had both somewhat assumed. The trio wandered towards us, and Arthur appeared from the front of the store, a pack of ordinary muggle playing cards in his hands.
"Look!" He said, showing the pack of cards to Molly. "Muggles use these to perform 'magic' tricks! It's amazing what they do while they pretend they don't know about us," he said, shaking his head in amazement.
"Look, Dad!" Ginny said, holding up her cage to show him. "I've decided to call him Arnold! Fred let me have him!"
"Oh, did he," Arthur said, looking at Arnold through his spectacles. He looked at me suspiciously out of the corner of his eye, but I maintained a stony expression. Sirius saved me from defending myself by arriving with bags full of products that he hadn't had when going to buy the cloaks.
"I found about a million things on the way to pay that I just had to have!" Sirius said excitedly. "Your sons are just brilliant! The way their minds work…I tell you; James Potter would have loved those two. He always wanted to open a joke shop – if there hadn't been a war, I have no doubt that he would have done so and not become an Auror."
"You all right, Harry," I asked, noticing the ashen expression on his face. The three of them had finally fought their way through crowd and joined us.
"Just fine," Harry said, shooting me a grin that didn't reach his eyes.
"Okay," I nodded, feeling like something had happened while the three of them had been missing that we weren't picking up on, but I decided not to push it. We all picked up our purchases, Molly and I the only two to have not bought anything, and made our way outside after waving goodbye to Fred and George. They called to us that they would see us for dinner sometime next week, but we'll see if that actually happened.
We wandered away from the bustling activity of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes back through the drab and grey alleyways towards the Leaky Cauldron. Although we were still on edge and on the lookout for anything suspicious, the trip to the joke shop had raised all of our spirits. There was nothing like the pure Fred and George joy that they had managed to package to convince us that even in the darkest of times…it was still okay to smile.
