Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and you know I'm not J.K. because #transrights

Hogwarts: Assignment #4, Survival Skills Task #1, Write about moving into a new home

Warnings: Grief, canon character deaths, sleep troubles

This New Night In This New Place

Hold on, to me as we go

As we roll down this unfamiliar road

And although this wave is stringing us along

Just know you're not alone

'Cause I'm going to make this place your home

—"Home" by Philip Philips

He heard the slight push against his door as if it were a racket—which was a byproduct of having been living with a two-year-old for some time now. He sat up and saw that it wasn't Harry, escaped from his crib (again) and eager to explore his new surroundings, but Lily who was shyly peeking in.

"Everything alright, Potter?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"Did I wake you up?" Lily asked anxiously.

"I asked first," Sirius mumbled.

"I couldn't sleep," Lily said quietly. "It just… felt empty in there."

Lily still had nights like this, no matter how long James had been gone, where she suddenly felt too small to be in bed on her own and hearing only her breathing throughout the night freaked her out. He should have known that tonight, being in a new house, would have made tonight one of those nights where she wouldn't want to be alone. Luckily, Sirius was just across the hall in the home they'd found for themselves—a gorgeous farmhouse away from Godric's Hollow, away from London, and away from all the places where bad memories had been made. They'd meant to start fresh here and had put all the chances on their side.

"Come in then," Sirius said, shifting to his left before falling back against his pillows and sinking into the mattress. He could tell by the dragging sound that preceded Lily crawling into bed that she'd brought her favourite blanket with her—a thick knitted blanket the colour of cream with a good weight to it. She sunk into the mattress too, her hair nearly instantly getting in Sirius' face when she rested her head on one of the pillows. He threw an arm open and Lily tucked herself against him, her head very close to his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. Hey; whatever helped.

He had nearly fallen asleep again when the door hinges creaked ever so slightly. Sirius grunted and looked up, blinking through the darkness to see Remus.

"Moony, that you?" Sirius said.

"Yes," he said, his voice a whisper. "Is Lily with you?"

"Mmm," Lily said, muttering her presence into Sirius' arm.

"My back's bothering me again," Remus said. "I need a softer mattress. Can I sleep in yours if you'll be here?"

"Just come here," Lily said. "It's plenty soft."

"Yeah, might as well," Sirius said. Remus closed the door behind himself and came into the room. He'd brought his own pillow with him. To make room, Lily sat up and crawled over Sirius, nearly kneeing him in the chest. Maybe months ago, when Lily had moved in with them once the cottage had been destroyed, she would have. Now, they were much better at this nightly ballet. Lily settled down, sandwiched between the wall and Sirius, and dragged her blanket over herself.

"I think I found every squeaky floorboard on this floor on my way here," Remus mumbled.

"Welcome home," Sirius muttered.

Remus put the pillow down at Sirius' right and slipped under the same blanket as Sirius.

"Jesus, Moony, why the fuck are your feet so cold?" Sirius said, pulling away.

"They're not cold."

"Yes they are!"

"Let me see," Lily asked, reaching over. "Remus! All of you is cold! And you're so bundled up too..."

"I'm fine," Remus muttered.

"Merlin, we gave you the warmest room in the new house and you're still bloody freezing," Sirius mumbled.

"Sirius, move over, Remus needs to go in the middle," Lily said.

"I do not," Remus scoffed.

"Fine, I'll move," Lily said, crawling over Sirius and Remus both this time and forcing Remus to scootch over and for Sirius to move over again. She spread her blanket over the three of them and settled down with her head on Remus' shoulder. When Lily and Harry had lost their home and suddenly moved into Sirius and Remus' Londonian shoebox with its asbestos and shitty toilet and peeling paint, they'd gotten used to living in tight quarters. Sirius and Remus had shared a room for the last few months while Lily and Harry took his, just until they'd gotten their ducks in a row and decided to buy the farmhouse. It vaguely amused Sirius that even with 2,400 square feet of living space they were still piling one on top of the other.

That was when they heard the floorboards creak outside as someone not so subtle made his way to the bedroom and pushed against the door with two, meaty hands.

"Mama?" Harry asked chirpily. "Pafoo? Moomoo?"

"We're here, sweetheart," Lily said, sitting up again. "We're right here."

"Dodo with Mama," Harry babbled as he stomped into the room.

"Why not?" Sirius said. "I suppose he can come too. It'd be rude to leave just him out."

"First night in a new house is tough when you're a kid," Remus said.

"It's good that he found us if he couldn't sleep, but bad that he's still escaping from his crib," Lily said as she reached down and lifted her son into the bed. She kissed the top of his messy head. "Alright, baby. Settle down, sweetheart…"

Remus raised one of his arms and Harry crawled across Lily's legs and Remus' chest to go snuggle against it. Then he reached out blindly and grabbed a fistful of Sirius' hair.

"Pafoo?" Harry asked in the dark.

"Yes, yes, I'll do it," Sirius said, sitting up. "But only because you're so handsome, Harry."

He transformed into his Animagus form and Harry giggled.

"Don't rile him up, Sirius," Lily whispered. "The movers are coming with the rest of our things at 9:00, we need to be up for them…"

I won't, Sirius thought. I'm the one who was sleeping here, after all.

He licked his godson's cheeks before stepping over Remus and reinserting himself between him and Lily. Remus shoved over, and picked up Harry to deposit him between his mother and the big black dog. Sirius curled up and Harry melted against him, fisting his hands in Sirius' fur. It had hurt at first, but Sirius had been around his godson long enough to be used to it now.

"Alright, I think that's everyone unless this house has a ghost we simply haven't had the honour to meet yet," Remus said.

"Don't joke about that," Lily said. "We like our new home."

"Dodo," Harry said again.

"Yes, Harry, good idea," Remus said. "Let's all get some sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Lily echoed. "Sweet dreams everyone."

Sirius made sure not to fall asleep until he was sure from the sound of Lily and Remus' breathing that they were asleep now. It took Lily the longest, but she looked so comfortable that he suspected she would sleep peacefully—which seemed like a good omen for all the nights to come in the new house. He could feel Harry's heartbeat against him slow as he fell asleep. When all of them were settled, Sirius could start dozing off too.

A year ago, this was not where Sirius would have expected to be. They had hoped that Voldemort would be gone and dealt with by this point, yes, but Sirius would never have believed that it would have happened like this. Not with Peter betraying them and never in a million years with James dying. Sirius wouldn't have thought that that was the kind of thing they could survive. But here they were: without Peter, without James, in a new house that showed the world that the three of them were locking arms and standing their ground. It had a porch too. A fuck-you-world-we're-still-here porch. You had to be well-adjusted to have a porch, right?

Sirius looked up at the ceiling as Remus' arm came to rest on him and Harry's fists curled protectively. Lily sighed in her sleep.

Would this be what James would have wanted for them? His best friend had sat Sirius down on his wedding day and told him to help Lily take care of herself if something happened to him. One day, Remus had off-handedly mentioned that he didn't want to be buried if he died, he wanted his ashes spread in the seaside town he'd grown up in. When Sirius had been made Harry's godfather, he'd known that it would mean stepping up if something happened to his parents. They had talked about these things as distant possibilities, as unlikely scenarios that they might have to deal with, worst come to worst. Never in these narrowly real scenarios had this new house that smelled like pine come into play. The image of Lily and Remus and Harry piled in his bed on a sleepless night had never occurred to him.

But yeah. He thought that James would be happy with this arrangement.