Author's Note:

Reviews and Comments: To Claire Fraser: Yes, Remus does love to torture himself, doesn't he? Tonks is not going to wait around forever and he needs to realize that. I'm glad you're already liking Zee. Sirius is comfortable talking to her about things whether he realizes it or not. To alix33: Zee's jumper is so long because she's very tiny. Remus is embarrassed and therefore will not tell anyone he is a werewolf unless forced to. He has actually only ever told one person outside of Harry and we will learn about that later.

Thanks to the two to five people who are reading this story by the way. I appreciate you!

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE:

The One Where the Weasley Boys Come Over for Christmas

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville had come to the conclusion that Snape had indeed been jinxing Harry's broom because he had obviously tried to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween. They all agreed it was the only possible reason why he could be limping. The only problem was that they couldn't figure out why. What could possibly be hidden in the school that Snape would want badly enough to risk so much?

After talking to Hagrid and telling him their suspicions about Snape, they were able to put together a bit more information. Hagrid had accidentally let it slip that he in fact owned the Cerberus (who was named Fluffy) and that what he was guarding was a secret between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel.

Hagrid had been horrified that he'd accidentally spilled that beans.

Harry and Hermione both knew that they recognized the name Flamel from somewhere, but neither one of them could figure out where the name was from. Hermione told them that she would try to research it in the library. Neville thought that it was better to leave it alone, but Harry and Ron were much too curious for that to happen.

Harry wondered if he should ask Sirius or Remus, but after Sirius' reaction to the idea of someone potentially trying to kill him at his first ever Quidditch match, he was pretty sure that telling Sirius this was a bad idea. Sirius would tell him to leave it alone and to definitely not go anywhere near the three-headed dog.

As December came around, Percy told Ron that they were all staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays as Mr and Mrs Weasley, Ginny, and Bill were going to Romania to visit Charlie. Harry immediately shook his head at them.

"No way, you guys can't stay here! You can come home with me for Christmas," he insisted.

Percy merely smiled at him. "Harry, that's quite generous of you, but you haven't even asked Sirius if it's okay."

"I don't have to," Harry told him. "He would want you guys to come home with me."

Fred slapped him on the back. "Excellent, thanks Harry!"

"Aren't you going to write home and ask first?" Percy insisted, giving Harry a stern look of disapproval.

Harry sighed. "If it will make you feel better, Percy, but I swear, you're all invited."

"Write home first and then we'll talk," Percy replied.

Harry merely rolled his eyes, but did as Percy asked.

The response from Sirius the next morning made him grin as he passed the letter to Percy to 'inspect.'

Harry,

Of course Ron, Fred, George, and Percy can spend Christmas with us! The more the merrier! I told Andromeda and she said that they are more than welcome to join in on the festivities. I'll set up some sleeping arrangements for them. Ron can stay with you and Marauder and Fred, George, and Percy will have to share in the guest room.

I'll write to Molly and Arthur to let them know that they will be staying with us.

Love,

Uncle Sirius

"Thanks, Harry," Percy said with a smile.

Harry only grinned at him in response. It sounded like this Christmas was going to be a really great one.

~ ASC ~

As December swept in, Sirius was starting to go a bit stir crazy. Zee had been busy at work a lot lately and the time that they had managed to steal together was far and few between. He really liked spending time with her, more than he'd realized. She was funny and smart. She was an incredible cook and easy to talk to. She was beautiful and kind and when he didn't see her, he kind of missed her. Not to mention that the sex was beyond stupendous and he found that whenever he was around her, he couldn't stop smiling.

Even Remus had noticed his clear happiness and commented on how great it was to see him whistling and smiling all of the time. When Zee insisted on meeting Remus, Sirius found himself excited to show her off. She immediately charmed Remus who was laughing at her stories and smiling at her the whole time.

"You were holding her hand," Remus said accusingly, after Zee left for the night.

"Hmm?" Sirius asked as he dried the dishes by hand.

Remus smirked at him. "When she was talking, you were holding her hand, running your thumb over her knuckles, squeezing her fingers, touching her arm. You really like her."

"She's gorgeous and we have really stupendous sex," Sirius said.

"You have a girlfriend, Sirius, admit it," Remus teased. "I don't even remember the last time that happened."

Sirius laughed. "Dramatic much?" At his friend's arched brow, he grinned. "Seventh year at Hogwarts, McKinnon… and I didn't say that she was my girlfriend. We haven't… labelled it. We're just hanging out and shagging. Merlin, we shag a lot. I've only seen her like eight times, maybe ten."

"And you've shagged her every single time?" When Sirius didn't answer, he grinned wider. "Interesting."

Sirius had decided not to comment on that.

He liked spending time with Zee and that was all that he needed to label it as for the moment. He enjoyed working on his bikes too, but he needed something else to keep him occupied as the weather got colder. When he was shopping for Christmas presents, he found another thing to occupy his time.

He had run into Prya, Althea's old roommate just outside of St Mungo's and Prya had mentioned that work was extra stressful because of all of the kids that had recently been admitted with a bad outbreak of Black Cat Flu causing most of them to be hospitalized until their fevers could be brought down and the illness better controlled. After talking to her, he found himself walking into the hospital and finding his way to the children's ward.

He had simply pulled a chair up at the front of the room, grabbed a book and started to read. Within ten minutes, he had fifteen kids ages four to nine sitting around him and listening attentively. By the time that a healer had come in, he was on his second book and the healer was so surprised to find someone entertaining the children that she simply grinned at him.

Soon he was going back every week and enjoying every minute of it. The kids were all just so happy to see him and so grateful to listen to him, to help him build huge Lego forts, and to have someone to play with. He felt useful and it made him smile to do it. To offer his time to kids who needed him and it felt really good.

It felt so good in fact that he also visited the Muggle hospital and did the same; spending four to six hours every week between the two. He didn't mention his new hobby to anyone. It just felt nice to do something good and it reminded him of how much he missed playing with Harry. His boy was getting a bit too big to do stuff like this with and it felt nice to have children who were just kids and wanted to play. Being with the kids made him even more anxious to get his boy home for the Christmas holidays. With most of the Weasleys coming to stay with them, it was going to be a full house and Sirius wanted to make sure that it was a perfect Christmas.

Especially because Remus and Tonks were still walking on eggshells around each other, something that was driving Sirius mad as neither one of them would talk about it. He couldn't count the number of times both of them had not so subtly asked him about the other. He wished that they would figure things out between them because they were driving him batty.

But he couldn't wait for Harry to come home.

He said as much to Zee as she cuddled with him on the chesterfield in her cottage one evening in the middle of December. He had his legs stretched across the sofa and she was snuggled into his side. Her legs were curled up under a thick faux fur blanket they were sharing with her head resting on his shoulder. Sirius twined his fingers through hers as they sat like that, talking, and drinking wine in front of the fire.

"I can't wait to get him home for Christmas. I've really missed having him around the house, down the hall when I sleep and just hearing his chatter," he admitted, smiling at the thought. "I must sound like a ridiculous mother hen."

Zee chuckled against his shoulder. "No, you sound like you miss your son. I think it's incredibly sweet."

He snorted at that. "Sweet, right."

Zee grinned at him, gently plaiting her fingers back and forth between his. "It is sweet! It is part of the reason that I like you, if I'm honest. You are a big softie."

Sirius looked appalled. "I am not!"

She grinned, smirking at him. "Please, I bet Harry just has to turn those big emerald green orbs on you and you probably melt like butter on a hot day."

Sirius flushed at this. "I do not. I… I've had to say no plenty of times."

Zee's smile widened as she used her free hand to take a sip of her wine. "That little boy has you wrapped around his finger and you love every second of it. The way you talk about him, the way you tell me things that he writes home. I feel like I know I him already and I can't wait to meet him."

"I can't wait for you to meet him, too," Sirius admitted, a soft smile teasing his lips. "He's just… he's the greatest kid in the world. Plus he has some pretty great friends like Ron and Neville. I'm sure that he's going to be even more full of stories for me when he gets home. I hope it snows some more. It's perfect out there now, but I don't want it to harden or melt before Harry gets home. We've kind of started this tradition of a snowball fight on Christmas and this year with four of the Weasley boys here, we can have a pretty epic fight."

"I've been known to be partial to building snow forts myself, especially as defence mechanisms against giant snowball fights," she said.

He chuckled. "Worried you'll get decimated in the fight?"

She merely arched her brow. "Please, I am the Queen and you, my lovely, are nothing more than the servant who must bow before those who rule above them."

He laughed, tilting her chin up to kiss her softly. "It's on, baby. It's on."

Zee brought her wine to her lips with a secret smile. "You will rue the day the you challenged me."

"Bring it," he said, his lips meeting hers again.

He regretted those words when he woke up the next morning, naked, in a small snow fort outside with a note next to his head.

Levitated you out while you slept.

The Queen made her first move.

You're up.

He'd crawled over to the pile of his warm clothes that were hanging for him. He quickly dressed himself, barely finishing covering up, and crawling outside when the first snowball hit him in the back of the head. He whirled around, grinning when he saw her with a basket full of freshly packed snowballs. He bent down, rolling one into his hand and throwing it in her direction, but to his surprise she twirled her wand and sent it barrelling back towards him.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Sirius exclaimed, reaching down for more snow. He blustered in surprise when ten snowballs came in his direction, almost all of them pummelling him, chest, arms, and legs. "You're in for it now," he declared, running after her.

The sound of laughter bubbling up in her throat as she threw snowball after snowball at him, had his grin widening. Then she shrieked when he tackled her to the ground. They rolled and Sirius pinned her beneath him, grabbing a handful of snow and crushing it in her face.

"Now who's down," he said smugly.

Zee brought her knee up, stopping just before connecting and his eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't dare."

She smirked mischievously, reaching down and squeezing him hard enough to make him squirm before she shimmied out from under him, getting to her feet before Sirius knocked her feet out from under her. He caught her before she crashed and pinned her beneath him again, this time locking her legs down as well. He shoved more snow in her face.

"Who's the King?"

Zee squirmed, wiggling and rolling beneath him in an attempt to escape and eliciting a low groan from him.

"Zee, stop that," he insisted, his skin heating despite the chill.

She only eyed him in feigned innocence. "Why?"

Sirius just bent his head and kissed her. The heat of her mouth under his practically melting the snow from their bodies. He nuzzled her neck, kissing her jawline and smiled at her.

"Let's call it a draw," he suggested, kissing her nose. He gasped when he felt ice cold snow slipping down over his naked bum. He leapt to his feet and swore as the snow melted in his jeans.

Zee jumped to her feet, giggling madly. "I never forfeit. Bow before your Queen."

The snowball hit her right in the stomach. She laughed and made a run for it.

This time when he caught her, she let him.

And the trail of clothes they left through her cottage to her bedroom made them decide that it had been a tie after all.

~ ASC ~

When Harry stepped off of the school train with the Weasleys in tow, he ran across the platform to greet Sirius, Remus, and Tonks who were all waiting for him. Sirius simply smiled at him and held out his arms.

Harry, not caring who saw him, made a beeline for his godfather, grinning widely as Sirius wrapped him up tightly in his arms, kissing his cheek.

"Hi!" he said, grinning as he was smushed against Sirius'.

"Hey, Prongslet," Sirius murmured against his cheek, kissing his face. "I'm so happy to have you home."

When Sirius let go, Remus squeezed his shoulder and Harry moved to hug him tightly, smiling when Remus kissed his cheek. "Little Prongs, we want to hear everything we've missed out on since you last wrote."

Tonks grinned and draped an arm over his shoulder, her eyebrow rising when she realized that Harry almost reached her shoulders. "You grew!" She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair. "I heard you and Ron fought a mountain troll? I want to know everything! You've been lax on the letters, mate."

Ron grinned at her when she winked at him. "We accidentally fought a mountain troll, Tonks, let's clarify that."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised that Mum didn't have a heart attack when she heard the news. Fred and George haven't even done anything that stupid!"

"Percy," George said, "Are you implying that we do stupid things?"

Percy gave his brothers an exasperated sigh as Ron snickered.

Sirius draped an arm around the shoulder of each twin. "We have lots of fun stories to share, I'm sure. Now, come on boys; let's go home."

They took the London Underground to The Leaky Cauldron and used the fireplace to get back to Black Cottage.

The first thing that they decided to do when they got to the cottage (after Harry had hugged and played with Marauder who was beside himself at the sight of his boy) was to go outside and build a giant snow fort.

The next morning, it had snowed some more so they were making progress on making the fort even bigger and grander than they had originally planned on. Fred and George were making thick snow bricks and the fort was already as tall as Harry. Percy was giving rather snooty instructions that kept resulting in the twins aiming snowballs at his back.

Ron grinned as they carefully made an arched doorway. "This is the coolest fort I've ever built by far."

Harry grinned back at him. "Agreed. When we have war later, we can hide out in here."

Ron nodded eagerly. "I already started a snowball stash in the corner," he said, pointing to the pile of snowballs. "We will not let Fred and George get the best of us this year!"

"Excellent," he said, grinning at his friend.

By the time the snowball fight took place, Sirius and Remus both came outside to join them. Harry grinned widely when Sirius transformed into Padfoot, jumping and barreling through the snow, rolling around in it and making them laugh at his playfulness.

That night, once everyone had gone to bed. Sirius sat down to write a letter to Althea, smiling as he did so. He knew that she would be entertained by it.

Thea,

Sorry, I haven't written in a while. It has been quite the busy couple of weeks. Let's start with the obvious — you were right.

I like Zee.

She's cool. I really enjoy spending time with her. But funny story, I didn't see her again until a few days before Halloween and when she came by with Lady Godiva. Turns out, she thought you were my wife. We bonded instantly over her vast knowledge of motorbike engines and mechanics. Her grandfather was a Muggle and fought in the Second World War and drove a 1937 BSA M20. It's hers now. You can ask Apollo what a beautiful bike that is because it is gorgeous! She let me drive it a few weeks ago. That thing moves and it's in great shape and repair. She takes amazing care of it and she really knows her stuff.

That day she stopped by, thinking that you were my wife, we started talking. After I corrected her about my very single status, well, I invited her inside for a drink to discuss a ride trade off between our respective bikes — we ended up having sex in my kitchen. Twice. Then we ate some left overs and just talked. She's a Magizoologist which makes sense as to why she has a pet panther. She used to freelance, but now she works for the DRCMC and she really seems to love her job. Not to mention that she's really good at it. She's smart and resourceful and she makes me smile. Did I mention that the sex is stupendous. I think it might just be the best sex that I've ever had, if I'm honest.

Zee is a completely fascinating person. She's gorgeous. She wears three earrings in each ear plus a stud at the top of her right one. She has her belly button pierced, which is crazy sexy, and she has three beautiful tattoos. One on her ribs, which is a tribal tattoo of an elephant in gold and green that she received when she was in Africa, a gorgeous red and gold dragon that sleeps on her spine that she got in Romania, and a small black niffler on the back of her neck that travels around her body when it feels like it. It was her first tattoo and she said that he reminds her of her love of animals. She's also snarky. She loves motorcycles and getting her hands dirty. She's an incredible cook and can whip together an amazing meal faster than anyone I've ever seen. She likes to read mystery, horror, and romance novels. Plus she has family all over the place which resulted in her having a very different upbringing than anyone I've ever met.

Her mother was from a small town in America in the state of Georgia and apparently came from a very racist town, who wasn't two fond of the fact that her Muggle grandfather had married a dark skinned woman, who also happened to be a witch, (this is an issue in the Muggle world, I've learned). Zee says that her mother underwent many trials and tribulations growing up there as they lived near a Muggle community and her being half-Black was a big deal, but once her mother was accepted to Ilvermorny, her life became immensely better. Her father is Muggleborn and lives in Russia; complete opposite ends of the world almost. They met when they were twenty-one in Paris. Her mother was on holiday with her best friend and her father was working as an Auror for the Russian Ministry. He was working on an assignment in collaboration with the French Ministry. They were married within six months and she was born a year later. Her mother just moved to Russia to be with him; she was completely in love. But when Zee was barely six, her mother was killed by an assassin, because of someone her father had put away for his crimes. Zee moved to Georgia to live with her grandparents after that for almost a year until her father was sure that it was safe for her to come home again.

Her father married a journalist from Scotland and they moved to Scotland soon afterwards as that's where her new stepmother's family lived. Zee grew up there, living half the year in Scotland and half in Russia. She said she always loved animals. Her stepmother was always allowing her to bring home strays. Her father continued to work in Russia, travelling back and forth via international portkey every day when they weren't in Russia. And when it came time for her to go to school, they decided to send her to the wizarding school in Russia — the Koldovstoretz School of Magic because it apparently has such an amazing Care of Magical Creatures program. She speaks fluent French and Russian because of her upbringing.

I've been spending a lot of time with her, once or twice a week, sometimes more depending on how late she works. She's even popped over to share a meal with Remus and I a few times. Rem really likes her. He says that I'm different with her. I think that he's overreacting. We're not together, but we're together. We're just hanging out, getting to know each other and having lots and lots of great sex. She travels a lot for work and just returned a few days before the start of the holiday from New Zealand where she was working with a dragon tamer. She's gone again now to St Petersburg to spend Christmas with her parents and her father's family — I guess they alternate between Russia and Scotland every year.

Harry hasn't met her yet and obviously won't, as she will not be home until he heads back to school. But I want him to meet her. I don't know how I feel about that thought yet.

As for Harry, we have a full house this Christmas. Molly and Arthur are spending Christmas in Romania with their son Charlie and their eldest son Bill has headed down there as well. Ginny is with them, obviously. But Ron, Fred, George, and Percy are all staying with Harry and I rather than to stay at Hogwarts. It's been fun having them all here.

I've also gotten more information out of Harry on how his first term has been going. Other than becoming the youngest Seeker in over a century, fighting the mountain troll, and almost plummeting to his death in his first ever Quidditch match — he looks good. I'm glad to have him home. I've missed him more than I can express into words. I want to just snuggle him close and never let him go and it saddens me to think that he's getting too big to let me do that anymore. I think Remus is feeling pretty much the same.

Speaking of Remus, something happened between him and Tonks. I don't know what, but both of them have been walking on eggshells around the other for weeks now. Neither of them seem to want to discuss it either which makes it a bit awkward, I think.

How's Xander and the boys? How are you feeling? How's the baby doing? Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl or maybe twins again? Let me know.

Happy Christmas, Thea.

Love,

Sirius

He closed up the parchment with a smile, folding it into an envelope and writing her name and address on the front. One of his favourite things about writing to her was how cathartic he always felt when he was finished.

He stood up, stretching wide and grimaced when he saw that it was after midnight. He put the letter aside to send out in the morning and made his way upstairs. He gently pushed open Harry's bedroom door, smiling at the sight.

Ron was sleeping on the right side of the bed, his leg hanging off one side as he snored and most of the covers kicked off. Harry was on the left side, the blankets to his chin, his hair sticking up everywhere and a small smile on his face. Marauder was sleeping between both of them, sprawled out and taking up most of the bed as if he owned it.

It was nice to see Harry smiling in his sleep. He hoped that meant he was having wonderful dreams because it meant that he was happy. He stepped into the room, gently brushing the hair out of his eyes and leaning down to kiss his forehead. He adjusted the blankets over Ron who rolled over, cuddling with the dog.

Sirius turned back to smile at them before he closed the door and made his way to his own bedroom.

Yeah, he was glad his boy was home.

~ ASC ~

By the time Christmas Eve came around, Harry was beginning to think that it was one of the best Christmas holidays ever. They built an entire gingerbread village this year, double-decking two of the houses quite successfully with Percy in charge. They sang carols as they worked and when Remus broke out the Dickens, the Weasleys listened in fascination to the classic Muggle Christmas tale.

Harry woke up on Christmas morning, rolling ove as Ron snored loudly on the other side of the bed. He shoved his friend, laughing when Ron grunted before opening one eye.

"It's Christmas!"

Ron grinned and jumped out of bed. The two of them hurried into the guest room to wake Fred, George, and Percy before making their way downstairs.

Sirius and Remus were already in the living room, drinking tea. There were tall glasses of orange juice out for them which they all drank eagerly before diving into their presents.

Harry was pleased to get some more clothes, including some Gryffindor jumpers and scarves. He got a new jumper from Mrs Weasley, this one with a gold H on the front and a little Golden Snitch. Mrs Weasley also sent him some homemade fudge and treacle tart.

It was when Sirius passed him the lumpy package from under the tree looking at it rather thoughtfully as he gave it to him that he became the most curious.

He carefully untied the ribbon, opening it up. It was a cloak, he realized. A really soft cloak that felt like velvet. He stood up, fanning the cloak out and around himself in curiosity as Ron's eyes lit up.

"Harry! That's an invisibility cloak!" He bent down to pick up the note that fell out of it. "They're really rare! I wonder who it's from."

Harry took the note from Ron. "It says: 'Your father left this in my position before he died. It's time that it was returned to you. Use it well.' There's no name," he turned to look at Sirius and Remus who were staring at it in shock.

"That belonged to your dad, Harry," Sirius said quietly, standing up to touch the cloak. "Rem and I thought that it was lost… I… let me see that note." He took the note from Harry, glancing at the words and he nodded. "Dumbledore."

Remus nodded as he stood up to touch the cloak. "Jamie lent it to him a few weeks before they were killed. Remember? He said that he thought it was strange that Dumbledore asked for it as he's powerful enough that he doesn't need a cloak to be invisible."

"This was my dad's?" Harry asked in awe. The thought of having something that belonged to his father made his chest hurt and he found himself holding onto it tightly, clutching it to his chest.

Ron's mouth opened in surprise. "Your dad had his own invisibility cloak? That's wicked, mate!"

Sirius grinned, carefully draping the cloak around Harry's shoulders so that only his head was floating in the living room. "It's been in the Potter family for generations actually. Fleamont gave it to James before he left for school. Fee was furious. She said that the last thing their son needed was an invisibility cloak to hang around the school in, but Monty snuck it into his trunk before he left for first year. We got into quite a bit of a mischief under that cloak. Until fifth year, all four of us could fit under it."

Remus chuckled. "Then we were too tall and realized our feet were visible, not to mention we weren't scrawny enough to all squish under it so much."

Sirius smirked at Remus. "Then James used it to snog Lily. A lot."

Remus laughed, smiling at the memory. "That he did." He unhooked the cloak, smiling at Harry. "It's right that it's come back to you. Your dad would want you to have it." He kissed Harry's forehead with a smile. "A Potter and an invisibility cloak. It only makes sense."

Harry simply grinned at them. "I can really keep it?"

Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry, tugging him close for a hug. "It's yours, Prongslet. Of course you can keep it. But let's try not to cause too much trouble under it."

Harry grinned wickedly up at Sirius. "I do need to get Malfoy back for almost getting us caught by Filch for being out past curfew."

Ron nodded eagerly. "That could be fun."

Remus' eyebrow rose. "Harry, why were you out past curfew?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Malfoy challenged me to a wizard's duel when I told him to stop picking on Neville."

"And then the git didn't even show up, but ratted us out to Filch like his pants were on fire. Bloody coward," Ron muttered, wincing when Percy elbowed him. "Ow!'

"Ronald! I am a prefect! You cannot go around agreeing to a wizard's duel! How do you think that makes me look? Thank Merlin you weren't caught!"

Percy continued to ramble on about how incredibly selfish it was and how they could have hurt Gryffindor's chance for the House Cup. Fred and George mocked him from behind much to the amusement of the others in the room.

Ron made eye contact with Harry and they both grinned.

Some things were better left unsaid.