To Be Loyal
Chapter Fifteen
Disclaimer: HP is JK's.
A/N: Hey readers… sorry, it's been ages. Even adjusting to college isn't an excuse for five weeks of no new chapters, or however long it's been. I hope I haven't lost too many of you.
Thanks to Lord-Nightstone for this story's second review! I'm glad that the story has you hooked.
Now that that's taken care of… it's Christmastime!
"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either… Christmas is a time for family." —George Weasley, shortly after he and Fred forced their brother Percy's Weasley sweater over his head, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
"The Stone's the best. We could talk to loads of people, Sirius! The four Founders, and Merlin, and-oh! Oh! D'you think we could talk to Aslan? No, he's still alive." —Melania Black, Christmas 1970, after receiving a copy of The Tales of Beetle the Bard from her brothers
December 23, 1976
Sirius sat in a chair at James's bedside, watching as a Healer examined the cut in James's side. Healing spells had reduced it to a pale scar, and a Blood-Replenishing Potion had been James's only other treatment. "Are you sure you don't mind that scar, James?" the man asked, but James shook his head, grinning.
"Then you're free to go." The Healer patted James on the shoulder and smiled at Sirius and James's mother before taking his leave.
Sirius traded knowing smiles with Mrs. Potter. The two of them had a pretty good idea about what had happened to put James in such a good mood, but they had refrained from saying anything. James deserved to enjoy the moment.
Just then, the door flew open to reveal Mr. Potter, who quickly hurried to James's side. "I came as soon as I could. How are you feeling?" He frowned at James. "What are you so happy about?"
"I'm doing fine," James said, still smiling broadly. "They healed me right up. They said we could go-"
"I'd bet my wand that it has something to do with Lily Evans," Mrs. Potter said mischievously, thwarting James's attempt to change the subject. "From what Sirius said, they were left alone in the train compartment after she treated his wound from the curse he took for her."
"Is that so?" Mr. Potter asked casually, eyes twinkling with humor.
"Mum," James groaned. "I asked you not to talk to Dad about things like this. He'll tease me. Mercilessly."
"I'm sorry, James," Mr. Potter said as he settled himself in a chair next to Sirius. "Whatever is happening between you and Lily, we're happy that it's going well."
"Thank you," James said primly, tilting his chin up slightly. Sirius barely withheld a snort.
"Of course, Sirius will give me the dirt later, right?" Mr. Potter said, ruffling a grinning Sirius's hair.
"I left the compartment to get help, so I wasn't there," Sirius said regretfully. "I could offer some educated speculation-"
"Sirius Black-" James started, but Sirius forestalled him with a raised hand.
"-but that would be improper," Sirius finished, and Mr. Potter laughed and slung an arm around Sirius's shoulders. Sirius was pleased to find that he didn't mind at all.
"It's going to be a very special Christmas this year," Mrs. Potter interjected, smiling warmly at Sirius. "Sirius's first Christmas since he's been living with us."
"We're not planning to do the usual party," Mr. Potter told Sirius and James. "You can invite Remus and Peter, or Lily, but we're going to focus on our family."
A small, hesitant smile spread across Sirius's face when he realized that Mr. Potter included him in that statement.
"All right," James said, sliding out of bed and stretching. "Let's get going, yeah?"
Sirius fell in line between Mr. Potter and James as the family filed out the door.
December 25, 1976
Sirius groaned theatrically as he pushed his chair back from the table. "You've outdone yourself, Mrs. P."
"Thank you, Sirius," Mrs. Potter said, beaming.
He grinned at James and Mr. Potter across the table, whose expressions suggested that they had also overstuffed themselves. Mrs. Potter had cooked up a veritable feast, and Sirius had enjoyed every bit of it, from the dark turkey meat to the Yorkshire pudding. Sirius hadn't been able to get enough of the expertly seasoned roast potatoes, which had been grown in Mrs. Potter's garden. I'm glad they did this for us, Sirius thought. The grand Potter family dining table was far too large for the small family dinner, but Sirius didn't mind.
Sirius looked past James and stared through the glass wall at the setting sun. I remember coming down here late at night to look out over the forest, he recalled. I first mentioned Mel's name to Remus right over there. He felt so much more at home at Potter Manor now than he had then.
Sirius knew that Melania and the Marauders would always be his family, but over a surprisingly short amount of time, he was beginning to see Mr. and Mrs. Potter as the parents he'd always wanted. For perhaps the first time, he took a moment to simply drink in the sight of them.
His eyes landed first on Mr. Potter, who was just across the table from him. Not for the first time, he realized how much James resembled him. They had the same hazel eyes, the same messy black hair-"Potter hair," Mrs. Potter called it-and the same strong jawline. When Mr. Potter had helped James plan out his speech to Gryffindor House, Sirius had wondered if his friend had inherited his public speaking skills from his father as well. Perhaps Mr. Potter was as passionate about his work in Wizengamot as James was about helping his friends.
Not that I would know, Sirius thought with a slight grimace. Throughout most of the summer, Sirius had maintained a distance between himself and James's parents, spending much of his time with his best mate. They had spent countless hours running around the forest in their Animagus forms, playing Wizarding games, researching interesting spells in their textbooks, and writing letters to Remus and Peter.
Sirius decided that he needed to make a better effort. He remembered how Mr. Potter had told him that he and his wife would always be there for Sirius. They had managed to do that while giving Sirius his space; now it was time for Sirius to close the gap.
He looked over at Mrs. Potter, the only person still eating. A content smile spread across her heart-shaped face as she took another bite of turkey. Sirius thought that her dark brown, loosely braided hair gave her a regal kind of look that clashed with her usual wide smile. The small streaks of gray hair mixed in with the brown reminded Sirius that Mrs. Potter was well into her sixties, but he could never think of her as old.
I'll talk to her first, Sirius decided as the woman in question got to her feet and patted his shoulder before beginning to gather up the serving dishes. Mrs. Potter had asked him about things Walburga never had: his opinion on this or that, what he thought of his classes, and how Remus and Peter were doing. She had a knack for knowing when he didn't mind her squeezing his shoulder or ruffling his hair and when it would make him uncomfortable.
As Mrs. Potter carried the dishes toward the kitchen door, Sirius began to stack the remaining plates with the utmost caution. For Christmas dinner, Mrs. Potter had decided to use her prize set of fine china, which had been passed down through the Potter family for generations. Painted flowers on the border of each dish had been enchanted to move as if in a light breeze. Mr. Potter and James murmured their thanks as Sirius picked up the stack of dishes and followed Mrs. Potter.
The door to the kitchen almost swung shut in his face, but Sirius managed to shove his foot in the crack just in time. He winced as the heavy oak door pinched his toes.
"Oh, sorry, Sirius," Mrs. Potter said as she deposited the serving dishes in the enormous sink. A flick of her wand had the scrub brush eagerly setting itself to washing them. "I'll take those. Thank you for helping."
Relieved, Sirius pulled the door open with his foot and passed the stack of dishes into her outstretched arms. After Mrs. Potter had carefully set them down on the counter, he reached out and engulfed her in a sudden hug that surprised both of them.
She responded immediately, her arms wrapping tightly around him, and Sirius buried his face in her shoulder. "I just wanted to thank you," he said quietly, his voice slightly muffled. "Just for everything."
"Oh, of course, dear," Mrs. Potter said softly, rubbing his back.
"I want to thank you for how loyal you've been to James, and to the beliefs that you two share," she said intently as Sirius let his arms fall and stepped back. "I appreciate that, more than you know."
Sirius straightened up proudly under her gaze.
January 1, 1977
"Happy New Year!" Sirius shouted as the grandfather clock struck twelve and began to chime. The small crowd of friends let out a loud cheer and held up bottles of Butterbeer in a salute to the new year.
A broad smile worked its way onto Remus's face as he looked around at his friends. The Potters had allowed James and Sirius to invite Remus, Peter, Lily, Alice Macmillan, Marlene McKinnon, and Frank Longbottom to stay up and celebrate the New Year, and Remus had jumped at the chance. He rarely passed up an opportunity to spend time with the other Marauders over the holidays, and Alice, Lily, and Frank were friends of his as well, if not as close.
The eight of them had chatted and joked for hours before playing an immensely long Muggle game called Monopoly that Sirius had received from the Potters for Christmas. Everyone except Lily, Alice, and Frank were still playing, and the game showed no signs of ending anytime soon. Mr. and Mrs. Potter had retired an hour earlier after reminding their guests that the Floo was available for whenever they decided to leave.
Sirius moved his token and groaned loudly, drowning out James as he stated the fee Sirius owed him. "Can you believe this, Lily?" he asked as he forked over almost all of his savings and mortgaged the last of his properties to pay the fee. "I'm almost out. It should be illegal to have more than two houses on Boardwalk." Sirius patted his game marker, a tiny dog, on the head. "How can you do this to that poor little dog?"
James, Remus, and Peter burst out laughing. Lily cocked her head questioningly at James, who grinned at her. "Inside joke," he said, his tone heavy with implied meaning, and comprehension quickly appeared on Lily's face. Remus remembered James mentioning that Lily had figured out that they were Animagi. Sirius and Peter had given James permission to tell her what their forms were, but it appeared that he hadn't done so yet.
Lily smiled knowingly at James and turned back to the game. "He wiped me out thirty minutes ago with his hotel on Pacfic Avenue," Lily reminded Sirius. "All's fair in love and Monopoly, I suppose," Lily added ruefully, smiling slightly.
"Muggle expression," Alice explained for the others' benefit. She and Frank were snuggled up in a chair near the smoldering fireplace, her head resting on his shoulder. "Actually, if your letter the other day is any indication, that situation fits both Monopoly and-"
"Alice!" Lily exclaimed just in time, blushing furiously. Alice and Sirius traded mischievous grins, while Remus allowed himself a small, self-indulgent smile. He couldn't help but think back to the lecture he'd given James over the summer about the mistakes his friend had made trying to get Lily Evans to like him. Since Lily and James had been holding hands under the table for the past twenty minutes, Remus was fairly certain he knew who Lily had been writing to Alice about.
Marlene laughed loudly, and Remus watched as she brushed a strand of her dark, curly hair behind her ear and picked up the dice. "My turn," she said. Marlene shook the dice between both hands and purposefully rolled them into several of Lily's houses, scattering them. Lily swatted Marlene on the shoulder as James returned the green game pieces to their proper places.
"Three," Marlene declared, and moved her marker onto Connecticut Avenue. "You got me again, Remus," she said ruefully, shooting him a small smile as she passed him several notes of Monopoly money. "I've got money to spare, though."
Remus suppressed a small thrill of satisfaction that had nothing to do with the game as he tucked the papers under the edge of the board. Over the past few weeks, Marlene had become much more relaxed around the Marauders, and Remus suspected that she was finally getting over Sirius. This was good, as Sirius had a strange tendency to let a potential relationship die after one or two dates. It had upset Remus to watch Marlene try to regain Sirius's attention as he drifted further away from her without trying to resolve things. Remus had planned to talk to Sirius about it, but the battles and revelations of the past semester had led him to keep putting the matter off.
"Any new plans for the team, Captain?" James called over to Frank. "We've got to keep our momentum going." The Gryffindor Quidditch team had just barely beaten Slytherin in the first match of the season. Gryffindor wouldn't play Hufflepuff until early March, but from what Remus had heard, Frank tended to push his players hard in practice.
"You've got it," Frank replied, and both he and Alice sat up eagerly. "Alice and I have been talking through ideas for the Chasers, and we think that you, her, and Brown need to reduce the amount of time it takes to set up Hawkshead Formation."
Remus smiled and returned his attention to the game as the chatter about Quidditch picked up. Lily had an affectionately exasperated look on her face as she nudged James to remind him that it was his turn. James nudged her back and rolled the dice.
"Seven," Peter muttered. "You'll land on my hotel on St. James's Place, James."
"Bloody hell," James groaned. "Isn't that ironic." He narrowed his eyes jokingly at Peter, who grinned in response. "You're not going to win this one, Pete," James said, and Peter chuckled.
"Language," Lily said, elbowing him in the ribs, and James turned and gave her a melodramatically wounded look.
James moved his marker, the thimble, to St. James's and paid Peter. James's thimble and Peter's top hat were the fiercest competitors at that moment, while Remus and Marlene had only managed to hold onto a few properties. Sirius was struggling the most, with most of his properties currently mortgaged and his money stores dangerously low.
After Peter's turn, Remus rolled and let out an exaggerated sigh of relief as he moved his wheelbarrow token to the Jail space. "Just visiting," he muttered as he handed the dice to Sirius.
Sirius rolled two threes, collected money from passing Go, and landed on Reading Railroad, which he owned. He tried to pass the dice off to Marlene only to be reminded to roll again since he had rolled doubles. A pair of sixes put Sirius on Community Chest, where he collected a Get Out of Jail Free card. "I'll need that if I get another set of doubles," Sirius muttered, and everyone watched closely as he rolled again.
"Free Parking!" Sirius exclaimed as he moved his dog onto the coveted space. He gathered the untidy stack of money at the center of the board in both hands and tossed it into the air. Most of it landed on James and Lily, who groaned in halfhearted protest as they helped Sirius gather up the scattered notes. Remus was about to roll his eyes when he noticed that, for the first time, Sirius's wide smile had become strained as he accepted the money back from James.
Sirius got to his feet, turned around, and stretched his arms out above his head. "I'm going to get another Butterbeer," he announced before heading to the kitchen.
"Me too," Remus said quickly, getting up from his kneeling position at the table to follow his friend. "Only Marlene and Lily can play for me," he told the others, a teasing half-smile on his face. "Can't trust any of the rest of you not to change the roll to what you want."
"Would I ever do that to a fellow Marauder, Remus?" James asked, acting appalled by the notion.
"You don't need to show off for us, James," Lily said, and James nodded.
"I know. Thanks."
Remus grinned as he made his way into the kitchen, where Sirius was rummaging in the charmed pantry for a cold Butterbeer.
"Doing all right, Sirius?" Remus asked his friend from behind. Sirius turned suddenly to face him, a Butterbeer in each hand.
"Yeah, fine," Sirius said. He gave a halfhearted attempt at his former grin.
"Come on, Padfoot, you know you can't fool me," Remus said, reaching forward and taking one of the bottles from Sirius. He pulled two stools up to the island countertop at the center of the kitchen and sat down. "C'mon."
Sirius nodded and sat down next to Remus, but he wouldn't meet Remus's gaze.
"What's going on?" Remus asked.
Sirius sighed. "It's stupid."
Remus waited patiently.
"Mel loved Monopoly," Sirius said quietly before taking a swig of Butterbeer. He said the three words cautiously, like he was revealing something precious. "Got a little obsessed with the game when she was seven. She'd always throw the money in the air like I just did after she got Free Parking."
Remus chose his words carefully. "I'm sorry, Sirius. This time of year is hard for you now, isn't it?"
Sirius nodded slowly, staring down at the countertop. "It hasn't been like this all the time," he said evenly. "Coming home from winter break without her there was hard, but not as bad as it was last summer at Grimmauld. It just hits me hard sometimes."
"I've been thinking, and I think you should tell the Potters about her," Remus said. "You could use the support, and Mr. Potter could tell the Ministry about her. If they attack Malfoy Manor in future-"
"I can't believe I haven't done that!" Sirius exclaimed. He practically leapt off his stool, accidentally knocking it over, and began to pace. "All this time, maybe they could have done something! I guess I just thought, idiot that I am, that they couldn't help or-"
"Hey," Remus said sharply, halting Sirius in his tracks. "It's not your fault, okay? The Aurors never stopped your parents before, so you thought they couldn't do it now. And maybe they can't get your sister out of that Death Eater stronghold anytime soon, but it's possible." He locked his gaze with Sirius's, and the lost, guilty look slowly left Sirius's gray eyes.
Sirius nodded and exhaled sharply. "Yeah. Ok. I'll tell them tomorrow," he said, running his hands through his shaggy hair in anxiety.
Lily poked her head in the door, followed by James. "Everything all right in here?" Lily asked, glancing down at the fallen stool. She took a step inside.
"Everything's chill. Copasetic," Sirius said, letting his hands fall to his sides. "It's all gravy."
Lily laughed and punched Sirius's shoulder. "You're such a doofus." Her gaze softened as she looked at Sirius. "You ever need to talk to us, we're here, though we might not be as smart as Remus. C'mon."
"I second that. All of that," James said, and he grinned when Lily ruffled his messy hair affectionately. Remus blushed at the praise as he and Sirius followed their friends out of the kitchen and back to the others.
As they reentered the parlor, Sirius glanced over his shoulder at Remus and mouthed, thank you.
Remus smiled. "It's all gravy," he whispered, and Sirius snorted with suppressed laughter.
A/N: Please review! Feedback makes the story better.
"Notes" means bills. Let me know if I got the British-ism wrong.
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Part of that was due to college, part due to time spent working on my planning document for this fic, and a big part due to just not writing. I will probably update more frequently in future.
By the way, I have become aware that there is more information about James Potter's parents on the wiki than I would have guessed, and it creates problems for my fic. After looking at it, I have decided that it's okay for me to keep going with the plans I already have for Potters. If this information was taken from references in the book, then consider changes I make to be AU.
It's important to try to make things line up with canon, but I might go insane if I tried to accommodate every little piece of the Harry Potter universe.
Have a nice day!
