Resolutions

By Neurotica

Forty-Three

It was a few weeks into April when Sirius finally woke up. Remus was keeping vigil over him while Naomi got some much needed sleep at Number Twelve. They'd had to give her another strong Sleeping Draught to relax her enough to fall asleep; everyone hated the idea of drugging her again, but if they hadn't, she would have driven herself insane worrying over Sirius.

The Healers and Remus were beginning to notice some of Sirius' color had returned; ever since he'd arrived at St. Mungo's, he'd been white as a sheet, with even his lips faded to match the rest of his skin. The return of his color was taken to mean that he was fighting to wake up and get himself out of the trap in his mind. Remus had wondered what it was like for him to be stuck in there, how horrible it must be with no visible way out.

That day was one of the few Harry hadn't been permitted to come along—Remus had asked him to remain at Number Twelve to work on the assignments set to him that he'd been ignoring since Sirius had been hurt. Remus sat in a chair beside Sirius' bed, reading—while he was caught up in the story, he didn't notice Sirius' right hand beginning to raise and flex. What he hadn't missed, however, was his best friend's head trying to move.

Remus dropped his book in surprise and stood from his chair. "Sirius?" he said, his heart beating wildly. He hadn't wanted to get his hopes up in case it was another false alarm. A few weeks before, he'd lifted his arm and let it drop down to the bed as though he was slashing at something. "Padfoot, can you hear me?"

After a few minutes, Remus' heart stopped beating for a second or so. "'Course I can," came a thickly murmured reply.

Remus didn't know what to do. Should he call for a Healer or should he stay here to be sure this wasn't a hallucination? Sirius' lips had barely moved, and his eyes were still closed. He didn't want to risk the embarrassment of a Healer coming in and telling him Sirius' condition still hadn't changed.

"Naomi..." Sirius said clearly, but very hoarsely.

Remus was sure his cheek muscles would be sore later due to the large smile on his face, but he didn't care. "Naomi's at home, Sirius. She's sleeping, but she'll be here later."

"Mira... Harry..."

"They're at home as well."

"Moony?"

"I'm here, mate, but I have to go away for a minute to get a Healer. I'll be right back, I promise. Don't fall asleep again, all right?"

"Right."

Remus patted Sirius' shoulder and quickly made his way out to the corridor and down to the medi-witch desk. "I need Healer Tonks in room 512 immediately, please," he said urgently to the small blonde witch.

"Might I ask why?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because the patient there has just woken up."

The witch's eyes widened, telling Remus she knew all about the patient in room 512 and his condition. "I'll summon him right now, sir."

"Thank you." Remus smiled at the witch and headed back to Sirius' room.

When he returned, Remus found Sirius' eyes were now wide open and mostly alert. The painkilling potions and spells seemed to have made him groggy.

"Where'm I?" Sirius asked when he spotted Remus.

"You're in St. Mungo's," Remus replied, pulling his chair closer to the bed and sitting down. "You've been here for nearly a month."

"Oh," was Sirius' reply.

Remus' smile faded a touch. "We've been worried sick about you, Padfoot. How're you feeling?"

"Thirsty."

"I'll get you some water." Remus went over to the table and found the water jug amongst all the get well gifts, cards, and candy sent by various people from the Ministry and Order, and of course Sirius' family, the Weasleys, and Hermione. He filled a cup with ice-cold water. "Sip carefully..." Sirius' arms seemed weak, so Remus helped him drink. "How's that?" he asked after Sirius drank every drop of water in the cup.

"Good... Cold..." Sirius replied.

At that moment, there was a short knock on the door and Ted entered, followed by half a dozen other Healers. Remus quickly moved out of their way so they could do their work. For about half an hour, Remus couldn't see his best friend. When the Healers were finally satisfied with their results, most of them left the room—Ted remained and motioned that Remus could come nearer to the bed.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked, still hoarse, but now with confusion in his tone.

Remus looked at Ted, who nodded, silently telling Remus he could be the one to break the news. Remus wished he hadn't; he didn't want to be the one to tell Sirius this. Not because he was afraid of the reaction, but because he didn't know how to tell his best friend he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

"Well, Sirius," Remus began slowly, working out what he was going to say as he spoke. "Do you remember the duel with Lucius Malfoy?"

Sirius nodded, frowning. "Yes... Part of his house fell and killed him—what's that got to do with—"

"Do you remember being thrown by a curse during the battle?" Remus interrupted.

"Yes, but—"

Remus took a deep breath and decided just to get it out. "Sirius, you've been hit with the Torchier Curse."

Sirius, who'd been about to cut in, snapped his mouth shut. His eyes faded to something Remus hadn't seen for many years—they looked dead and hollow, like they had when he'd left Azkaban. But his reply surprised both Remus and Ted. "I know," he said very quietly. "I knew a while ago, but it didn't come back to me until just now..."

"How did you know?" Ted asked, frowning. "You've been unconscious and mostly unresponsive since you were brought in. I think the only reaction—if you can even call it that—we got from you was when Mira was here and she held your hand — Naomi swore she saw you try to squeeze just a little."

Sirius shook his head. "I didn't hear it from any of you; Lily, James, and Julia told me."

The Healer and werewolf raised their eyebrows at one another, both clearly thinking the painkillers were making Sirius delusional.

"What're you talking about, Padfoot?" Remus asked cautiously.

Sirius sighed. "I was on this deserted island and they were there. They told me what happened to me, and that the only way to get out of there was to fight my way through this thick, dark jungle on the island. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but when I reached the other side, I saw this staircase that went all the way to the sky, so I went up it, and woke up."

He was trapped in his mind, Remus thought. His mind must've made up the island and brought Lily, James, and Julia to tell him what to do to get out...

After a long silence, Ted looked at Remus. "Would you like me to contact someone at Number Twelve and let them know he's awake?" he asked

Remus nodded. "That would definitely be appreciated," he replied. "It's Saturday, so most everyone should be home."

"I'll do that right now, then," Ted said. He put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Welcome back, Sirius."

"Er, thanks," Sirius said a little confusedly. He waited for Ted to leave before turning back to Remus and speaking again. "I really did see them," he said quietly. "I even kissed Julia. They couldn't help me through the jungle, they said I had to get through it on my own."

Remus nodded. "I believe you, mate, I do," he said honestly, remembering the dream he'd once had about James after he found out Naomi was pregnant and she and Sirius were getting married. "It doesn't matter, though. You're back, and there's going to be a very big party when you finally come home."

Sirius bit his lip and looked away from Remus to his own legs. "Am I really..."

He couldn't finish the question, but Remus didn't really need him to. "The Healers have done hundreds of tests on your legs, and they've not gotten any reaction," he said carefully.

Sirius sighed heavily. "I'd hoped once I got through that jungle and woke up, it would change."

"I'm really sorry, Sirius," Remus said quietly.

The Head Auror shrugged. "Not your fault, Moony," he said gruffly. "I was in the line of fire; it's part of my job. At least I'm still alive."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would," he said bluntly.

Sirius shrugged again. "Julia asked me not to fall into a depression and I promised her I wouldn't."

"They were really there, then?" Remus asked.

"I told you they were," Sirius said. "I thought it was a nightmare at first when James came out of the jungle, but it wasn't, they were trying to help me."

Sirius looked at Remus as though he was waiting for the werewolf to laugh. "I had a similar dream once where James came to give me some much needed advice," Remus admitted. "He said he wasn't supposed to be there, but he came anyway. I guess even death couldn't stop him from breaking rules."

Sirius smiled. "Well, all three of them were there, and told me my only way out was through the jungle. It wasn't easy, either; I got lost loads of times. And once I found light again, I knew I was nearly there. Just like Lily, James, and Julia told me, I found my way out. The staircase was about as difficult as the jungle; it was insanely tall and steep. I thought I was going to fall off into the ocean around that island... You think this sounds completely mental, don't you?"

Remus shook his head. "Not at all," he said. "I assume the jungle was your mind, and you had to fight your way through to get back to us. That's not an easy thing to do; most people who're hit with the Torchier Curse get so lost in their own minds that they never find their way out."

"But I did." Sirius grinned.

"You have no idea how happy I am about that, Padfoot. We were very worried you wouldn't ever wake up," Remus said solemnly. "Naomi's been a complete mess. She hasn't eaten or slept—we've had to give her sleeping draughts just to give her some rest. Harry has been to visit every chance he got, but I made him stay home today to work on school work."

Sirius nodded. "How long's it been?"

"Little over a month," Remus told him again. "Proudfoot has taken over as Head Auror for the time being to bring some order to Auror Headquarters."

"Good," Sirius said. "They said this curse was meant for him, you know."

"Lily, James, and Julia?"

Sirius nodded. "He ducked and I moved into the line of fire at exactly the wrong moment—"

He was cut off by the hospital room door bursting open and a crowd of people entering, led by a very tired, groggy-looking Naomi. She practically threw herself on her husband and hugged him tightly. After a few minutes, she pulled back a little to seemingly kiss him, but she punched him in the shoulder instead.

"OW!" Sirius said indignantly, releasing his wife to rub his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"For scaring us like that, you git," Naomi replied, trying to sound angry. The tears streaming down her face ruined the attempt.

Sirius turned to Remus. "They said you'd be the one to say that."

Remus grinned. "I'd be happy to, if you'd like."

"What're you two talking about?" Naomi asked, looking between them.

Sirius took her hand and kissed it. "I'll tell you later, love," he said, chuckling. "Did you bring Mira?"

Harry stepped forwards with the squirming infant. "What about me? You don't want to see me?" he asked, mock-accusingly.

"Don't be stupid, kid," Sirius said with a grin. "Of course I want to see you. Give your godfather a hug."

Naomi took Mira from Harry so he could obey Sirius' request.

"We missed you," Harry said, trying to sound gruff, but failing miserably. His bright green eyes were shining brightly. "I had no one to prank."

Sirius chuckled, ruffling Harry's hair as he pulled away. "What about all these people?" he asked, looking at the beaming Weasleys, Hermione, and Tonks, the latter two each holding a Lupin twin. "You could've pranked most of them." He looked around the room. "Hey, where's Emmeline?"

"She got stuck working today," Remus answered. "There's been a large problem when unauthorized portkeys that she has to investigate."

"We've sent her an owl," Molly said. "I'm sure she'll be here as soon as she can."

Sirius nodded, taking his daughter from Naomi and hugging her tightly. "She's gotten big," he said a bit teary-eyed.

Naomi nodded. "She's started to attempt walking. She falls after the first few steps if she's not holding onto something, though."

Sirius' smile faded, and Remus was sure he knew why. It was probably starting to hit him that he'd never walk again. When he spoke next, he sounded as though he had a rather nasty head cold along with the hoarseness of his voice. "So fill me in, what's been happening?"

Remus conjured chairs for everyone once they got a chance to hug or shake hands with Sirius. He took John from Hermione before taking his own seat. His brow furrowed suddenly for two reasons: Percy had come along and Bill seemed to prefer to stand against the wall. Remus noticed he hadn't come forward to greet Sirius. No one else seemed to find either strange, though the Weasley children were still doing a good job pretending Percy didn't exist.

They talked well into the afternoon, and Emmeline finally arrived around dinnertime. She hugged and kissed Sirius, welcoming him back as tearfully as Naomi, took Alex from Tonks, and sat next to Remus to join in on the conversations. Unfortunately, the impromptu welcome back party was interrupted around eight o'clock when Ted came in and said Sirius needed his rest, and anyone who wasn't family had to leave until morning.

Molly gave the patient another hug. "You get your rest," she said, fluffing Sirius' pillows. "We'll see you soon."

"Thank you, everyone, for coming by," Sirius said to the Weasleys and Hermione. "I really appreciate it."

Various goodbyes were said before the room cleared. Remus had forgotten how big the room actually was when it was packed full of people.

"So what's all that?" Sirius asked, pointing to the table where all his get-well stuff sat.

"Sweets, cards, something from Fred and George—I don't recommend opening it right away," Remus advised. "Everyone from the Minister of Magic to Hogwarts professors have been by to see you."

"Wow," Sirius said, impressed. "If this is the kind of attention I get for getting cursed and paralyzed, I should do it more often."

He was hit by everyone in the room for that.

"I was just kidding!" he said, trying to rub the sore spots. Naomi kept her hand on his leg, massaging it for some unknown reason—she had to know her husband couldn't feel it. He looked down and raised an eyebrow. "Well, at least I know a certain part of my anatomy still works..."

Harry looked to where Sirius was looking and groaned. "I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing or seeing that!"

"Same here," Emmeline and Remus echoed.

At half past ten, Sirius started yawning hugely and Naomi declared it was time for everyone to go home. "I'd like to stay with him if you could take care of Mira for the night," she said to Remus and Emmeline.

"Of course," Emmeline said, taking the child from her father after he'd given her a hug and kiss. "Take care of yourself, Sirius, we'll come back tomorrow if we can."

"I'll definitely be back," Harry said.

"Only if you've finished your school work," Sirius said sternly. "I don't want you falling behind, then failing your N.E.W.T.s. Understand?"

Harry looked dumbstruck. "Even after he just nearly died he's still acting like a parent."

"I am a parent, kid," Sirius reminded him. "Go home and get some sleep, all three of you."

"Rest well, Sirius," Remus said.

Sirius winked. "Thanks for listening earlier," he said quietly.

"Anytime," Remus said, smiling.

A week later, the residents of Number Twelve were preparing for Sirius' return. Molly was preparing a feast of all his favorite foods while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny hung banners to welcome him home. Remus and Emmeline had come home from work at lunchtime to help out—Remus and Naomi were supposed to pick Sirius up from the hospital at three in the afternoon. In the meantime, Remus was stressing about making the house wheelchair accessible. He'd gone around to all the doors and widened them, as well as the hallways, which was his main concern. He knew magical wheelchairs were much easier to maneuver than Muggle ones—instead of regular wheels, they hovered a few inches from the ground when moving, which made it a lot easier to go up and down stairs. When they were moving around where Muggles could be, the wheels activated, though turned on a dime when the person in the wheelchair merely thought about where they wanted it to go. They were quite efficient for handicapped witches and wizards.

Harry had been asking why the Healers couldn't just wave their wands and make Sirius better. Remus had to sit him down and explain that there were certain things magic couldn't undo—a witch or wizard couldn't bring back the dead and have them not be an Inferi. They also couldn't fix nerve or brain injuries. All they could do was to make the injured person more comfortable. Harry didn't like that explanation, but he accepted it. Remus wasn't too fond of his own explanation either; he'd spent a lot of free time, when he wasn't visiting Sirius, reading any book he could get his hands on to try to find something to counter the Torchier Curse. Thus far, he'd been unsuccessful, but he wouldn't give up. There has to be something, he kept telling himself.

No one inside the house had paid much attention to the Daily Prophet since Sirius' hospitalization. Remus skimmed through it every morning, noting the Death Eaters had been much more active lately, but that had been it. If anyone else had bothered to really pay attention to it, they'd see that the Muggle Prime Minister had been tortured and killed in his office, regardless of the magical security he'd been given. The Prime Minister had sent Tonks home for the night just before the Death Eaters had arrived. Tonks hadn't commented on the issue, preferring to ignore every reporter that followed her to get her side of the story. She'd told Charlie that there was no side of the story from her; the Prophet had, for once, reported the truth in its entirety.

A new Muggle Prime Minister was to enter office within a week, and the Ministry had promised twenty-four hour security around the new Minister, whether he or she wanted it or not.

"Is it three o'clock yet?" Harry kept asking, bouncing up and down like an excited six-year-old waiting for ice cream.

Remus raised an eyebrow and glanced at his watch. "Harry, it's not even one o'clock," he said dryly. "Just relax. Sirius will be home soon."

Harry groaned.

Ginny laughed and pulled Harry aside. "I don't think he even slept last night," she said.

Remus glanced over at Molly who was busy humming and making lunch. "Well, you would know, wouldn't you?"

Both Harry and Ginny's eyes widened.

"You should make sure there's no one in the hallway before you sneak out of Harry's room to your own," Remus advised Ginny amusedly. "Neither of you are in trouble. You're engaged now, and Harry's of age. I would only worry about your mother's reaction if she caught you, Ginny. And of course your brothers' reactions to Harry if they found out."

"No lecture?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you feeling all right?"

Remus gave him a look. "Don't push your luck. I'm in a good mood today, and I'd rather not ruin it by getting the two of you in trouble. I would advise you both to be careful." He looked pointedly at Harry. "Now go do something productive."

Harry and Ginny quickly left the kitchen.

"How long have you known?" asked a voice behind Remus.

Remus jumped and turned to face his wife. "Sorry?"

"About Harry and Ginny, how long have you known?" she repeated.

"A couple of weeks," Remus admitted. "I haven't wanted to say anything because I knew Harry was upset over Sirius, and I was assuming Ginny was there to comfort him."

She smiled. "Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about," she said. "I mean, I don't know whether they're actually doing anything or not, but they're both smart enough to... protect themselves."

"That is the last thing I want to hear... ever," Remus said. "And that includes when the boys reach that age."

"Well, when the boys reach that age, you get to have a talk with them."

Remus rolled his eyes while his wife laughed at the horrified expression on his face at the thought of giving his boys the talk, and followed Harry and Ginny's footsteps out of the kitchen.

A Ministry car pulled up in front of numbers eleven and thirteen in Grimmauld Place just after four in the afternoon. Remus and Naomi got out first to set up the wheelchair for Sirius to use. Meanwhile, the Head Auror had scooted closer to the door and put his legs outside the car.

"We can do this one of two ways," Remus said with a straight face. "One, we can physically move you. Or two, we can levitate you. I prefer the latter, but it's your choice."

Sirius glared at him. "Just get me out of this car."

Naomi's lips twitched as she and Remus moved on either side of Sirius. It wasn't as difficult as Naomi thought it would be to place Sirius in the chair. They waited for him to get situated before Remus thanked the Ministry driver and the trio watched the car drive away.

"So how big is the surprise party?" Sirius asked as Remus wheeled him through the gate and Number Twelve appeared.

"What surprise party?" Naomi asked too quickly and too innocently.

Sirius gave her a look. "You can't tell me they're not all inside waiting for us to come down to the kitchen so they can all start cheering for me. I know all of you much better than that."

Remus chuckled as they approached the stairs leading up to the front door. When they came within five feet of the stairs, the stairs automatically changed to a ramp.

"That's handy," Sirius said, impressed.

"That was Remus' idea," Naomi said. "He's been working all week to make sure you could get around the house easily."

"Cheers, Moony," Sirius said. Remus patted him on the shoulder. "So, neither of you answered my question—how big is the party?"

Remus sighed and looked at Naomi. She shrugged. "Most of the Order is there, along with everyone else in the house, of course. Dumbledore and Hagrid are even stopping by," he answered.

"Just do us a favor and act surprised," Naomi requested. "Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys have all been working their arses ragged to do this for you."

"Yes, dear," Sirius said.

Naomi tapped her wand on the door and opened it, holding it open for Sirius and Remus. Once inside with the door closed, Remus let go of the wheelchair and let Sirius' chair move him down the hall. "How's that working for you?" Remus asked quietly as they headed to the kitchen.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm still getting used to it, but I think it'll be all right."

"Have you tested it on stairs yet?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah, the Healers made me go up the staircases just to make sure I could do it before I went home," Sirius said.

Just as Sirius had predicted, once they opened the kitchen door, people started cheering and clapping for him. He smiled at them all, accepted hugs and handshakes, and made his way over to the table. The welcome home party lasted for hours. Dumbledore and Hagrid arrived in the evening, and Sirius was sure his chair had touched the ground a few times when Hagrid patted him on the shoulder.

"Good ter see yer all righ', Sirius," Hagrid said gruffly. "Knew yeh would be."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Sirius said, trying to catch his breath after Hagrid had knocked the wind out of him. "Good to see you, too."

Fred and George did their best to amuse Sirius by using their usual victim—Ron—as an involuntary tester for one of their new products. Just after everyone finished the cake Molly had made for Sirius, George offered his youngest brother a mint. "You really should brush your teeth more often, mate," George said, pretending to be offended by Ron's breath.

Ron glared at him, but took the mint anyway. Everyone winced, knowing Ron was letting his guard down around the twins, and he would pay dearly for it. To nobody's surprise, Ron momentarily disappeared in a haze of smoke. Molly glared at the twins, but they were busy watching Ron eagerly. When the smoke disappeared, there was a Kneazle running around the kitchen. Sirius barked out a laugh, nearly falling out of his chair. The rest of the kitchen joined in, and even Molly had trouble keeping her laugh quiet.

"That—was—brilliant!" Sirius choked out through his laughter.

When Ron finally transformed back to himself, he was on his hands and knees under the table. Tonks and Charlie had to move the chairs out of the way so he could get up. He shook himself and looked around at his family and friends, all of whom were still laughing hard and loud. After a moment or two, Ron joined in.

Near midnight, Dumbledore and Hagrid announced they had to return to Hogwarts. "The castle may be empty," Dumbledore said sadly, "but it is still home."

Sirius waited for all the Weasleys to go to bed before deciding to make his way to his own bedroom, not wanting them to make a big deal out of it, particularly Molly. Only Remus, Emmeline, Naomi, Harry, and the babies remained in the kitchen. "Do you need our help?" Harry asked carefully. He knew his godfather was very independent and didn't like help when he thought he could do it on his own.

Sirius sighed. "You lot may want to stand behind me, just in case I fall backwards. I doubt that'll happen, but you never know," he said resignedly.

With his family behind him, Sirius and his chair got up the kitchen stairs with no problem. He navigated himself through the hallway and up the stairs to the second landing where his and Naomi's room was. Naomi told him to go on in while she put Mira to bed.

"We'll see you in the morning, Sirius," Emmeline said, handing Alex off to Harry and bending down to hug him. "Welcome home."

Sirius smiled a little. "Thanks, Em." She took both twins and followed Naomi to the nursery. Sirius looked at Remus and Harry, hesitating. "You two couldn't... er, you know, help me, could you?" he asked in a small voice.

Remus felt horrible. It took a lot for Sirius to ask for help, even if it was from his family. He'd never wanted to admit that he couldn't do something himself. "Of course, Padfoot," Remus said quietly. Remus and Harry exchanged a look and followed Sirius into his bedroom.

Harry and Remus lifted Sirius by his arms onto the edge of the bed, then Harry went to find Sirius' pajamas. It only took them a few minutes to get the Head Auror undressed and redressed in his red silk pajamas, and comfortable in bed.

"All right, Padfoot?" Remus asked once they got Sirius' legs in the bed.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Honestly? No, I'm not, but thanks for helping."

"Anytime," Harry said. "Anything else you need?"

"Er, Harry, I wouldn't ask Sirius Black that question," Remus said. "You may not like the answer."

Sirius was grinning widely.

"Oh, are we having a pajama party?" Naomi asked, entering the room. Remus noticed she'd recovered completely from her depression when Sirius woke up last week. "Can I join in?"

"Only if you want to see Harry in his boxer shorts," Remus said with a straight face, earning a glare from the teenager. "They're quite cute, actually; I think he's been influenced by Sirius—he's got these adorable ducky boxers."

"Remus, shut up!" Harry hissed. "I don't want Naomi knowing about that!"

"Ah, it's all right, Harry," Sirius said, trying not to laugh at his godson's embarrassment. "She's family."

Harry glared at everyone, Naomi included, due to her twitching lips. "I am going to bed," he said coolly. "Good night."

Once he was out of the room, the three adults burst out laughing. "You just love embarrassing him, don't you?" Naomi asked Remus when she could speak again.

"It's highly entertaining," Remus said. "And it's not as if he hasn't embarrassed us. Remember the talk we gave him, Padfoot?"

"I try not to," Sirius said, shuddering at the memory.

"Well, I should get some sleep myself," Remus said with a look that said he hadn't forgotten the talk either. "I'll see you both in the morning."

"Night, Remus," the Blacks echoed.

He turned, winked, and closed the door before heading down to his own bedroom. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until just then, and he supposed it was because of everything that had been happening with Sirius. As he walked down the corridor, he vaguely wondered what Sirius would do now. No one had discussed whether he'd be allowed to return to the Ministry as Head Auror. What would it do to him if he found out he couldn't go back to his job?

Best not to think about that right now, Moony, Remus thought. It'll only make you more miserable. Be thankful that your best friend is still alive. Deal with everything else in the morning.

The next afternoon, Sirius found himself in the library with Remus and a pile of newspapers from the last month—it was his attempt to fill in the gaps of what was going on in the wizarding world while he was stuck in St. Mungo's. The only thing he seemed to be most concerned with was the special edition of the Daily Prophet after Lucius Malfoy's death was released to the press. It highlighted most of the crimes Malfoy had been accused and arrested for, including his assisting in Harry's kidnapping when the boy had been six. Sirius had read the first page carefully, vaguely surprised his hand in Malfoy's death hadn't been mentioned but once at the end where it merely stated Sirius and Proudfoot had been in a duel with the Death Eater, and there'd been a "stray spell" to hit Malfoy Manor that caused it to crumble and crush Malfoy.

"Rita Skeeter didn't write any articles in this edition," Sirius said quietly, flipping through the paper. "In fact..." He looked through a few more papers. "She doesn't seem to have anything in here."

Remus grinned a little. "That would be because Proudfoot and Bones basically threatened her into silence. They told her they knew what she was up to, and the moment she slipped up, she'd be arrested."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "What was she up to?"

"That's the amusing thing: they didn't have anything on her, it was an empty threat, but after seeing her reaction, they think she's really up to something," Remus said with a shrug. "No one has heard from her for two weeks, and she hasn't written an article since Malfoy died."

"Hmm," Sirius grunted indifferently. "I'd have at least assumed the Prophet would have dug deeper once they found out I'd been there; half of them hate me for not giving them inside information on the Ministry. You'd have thought they'd pin Malfoy's death on me whether they had the truth or not."

"You'd think so," Remus said thoughtfully. "By the way, reporters have been trying to reach you for a month to get your side of the story. Minister Bones has given you permission to curse anyone who invades your privacy."

Sirius snorted. "I love that woman," he muttered. "Speaking of the Minister..." He set the newspapers on the table and turned to face Remus. "She hasn't mentioned when I'd be able to get back to work, has she?"

"Not to me," Remus said honestly. "I've been thinking about it, and I don't see any reason why you couldn't go back to work; this isn't like when you lost your powers. You can still do anything the rest of us can do except chase Death Eaters on foot, but you have one of the best records when it comes to aiming and hitting your targets at the Ministry." He shrugged. "I'd still feel safe having you as Head Auror."

"Thanks, Moony," Sirius said, chuckling. He glanced at the clock. "What time does the Order meeting start?"

"About an hour," Remus responded, standing. "Which means it's time to start charming the kitchen against that expert eavesdropper you call your godson."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Since when is Harry an expert at eavesdropping?"

"Since he started asking questions about things no one but Order members were privy to," Remus said flatly. "He's taken to staking out the top of the stairs, hiding in the shadows, hoping to hear something. He's been hearing things, and no one's really certain how he's been doing it. Emmeline thinks he was just looking for more information on you while you were in the hospital, so I never gave it much more thought. But now that you're home, I wouldn't put it past him to keep at it. I've actually started wondering if he's been hiding somewhere in the kitchen in his Animagus form."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You know, you could avoid all this if you'd just agreed he could attend the meetings once in a while. I'm not saying every meeting," he added when Remus opened his mouth. "But you have to admit that since Hogwarts closed, his position has changed. Now, you and I have had this argument hundreds of times since the Order reformed, and I've mostly let you have your way." Remus gave him a look. Sirius ignored it. "But if there's something that we can do to better prepare him for Voldemort, don't you think this would be a start? And Harry's a smart kid; there are things he's come up with that we never would have thought of."

Remus let out a deep breath before replying. "I see your point," he said quietly. "And while I'm well aware of Harry's intelligence, I still don't think it's a good idea for him to be involved in everything the Order says or does."

"Not what I said," Sirius said. "I just think it might be a good idea to have him see what's going on. We don't have to say anything that's top secret, but Harry's as big a part of this war as you or me, probably bigger by the end. He deserves this."

Remus closed his eyes and shook his head. "All right," he said grudgingly. "We'll run the idea past Dumbledore, then the rest of the Order. If someone isn't comfortable with his being there—"

"Who's going to say that?" Sirius challenged. "There is only one person in the Order of the Phoenix that has anything against Harry, and that's Snape. And I'm sure if Snape had his choice, you and I wouldn't be allowed in the meetings, either."

Remus chuckled. "Can't argue with you there," he said. "Not a word of this to Harry," he added sternly. "It's bad enough we're even considering this without him badgering us for days for the decision."

"Deal," Sirius said, his chair heading for the door. "Now I'm going to go see if Molly has any more of that cake..."

Following his best friend out of the room, Remus wondered whether he would make it through the war with his sanity intact. By the time he reached the kitchen, he realized this was impossible, as he'd lost his sanity the day he'd decided to remain in the train compartment with James Potter, Naomi Watts, and Sirius Black.

To Remus' confusion and Sirius' satisfaction, Dumbledore thought the idea of Harry attending an Order meeting was brilliant, as had the rest of the Order.

"I've lost all faith in wizardkind," Remus muttered without much conviction once the vote had been held. "Why are you grinning at me?"

Sirius continued to grin at him while he ate his cake.

The meeting went on for an hour after that. Just as Dumbledore was ready to call it to an end, he'd gotten an odd look on his face. It was there only for half a second, before he was smiling at the Order members and wished them all a pleasant evening.

"Remus, may I have a word with you?" the Headmaster asked when everyone stood and started moving around the kitchen to chat. Remus followed Dumbledore to the far end of the room. "I wonder, have you had any more thoughts on the identity of our spy?"

Remus furrowed his brow. "A little," he said slowly. Actually, he hadn't thought about it in over a month. "But I've not come to any conclusions..."

Dumbledore nodded. "Nor have I," he admitted. "However, something may have come to my attention this evening, and I wondered if you'd be willing to hear my thoughts?"

"Of course," Remus replied quickly.

"I realize there has been much speculation surrounding Sturgis Podmore since the comments he made about you; however, I do not believe Sturgis has betrayed any of us. In fact, my opinion is that the spy is much closer than any of us would have thought."

"Er, I'm not certain I follow, Albus," Remus said confusedly.

"I would like you to keep an eye on every person within this house for the next few days, Remus," Dumbledore said plainly. Remus' eyebrows shot up. "Please watch closely for any strange activity, other than the activity of Harry, his friends, and the Weasley twins, of course."

Remus could only stare at Dumbledore as he smiled and went through the fireplace, back to Hogwarts.

"All right there, Moony?" Sirius said concernedly. "You look like someone just told your best friend died. Which can't be true, since I'm sitting right here..."

"We need to talk..."

Over the next few days, Sirius and Remus kept a quiet vigil over their family and friends residing in Number Twelve. Both were rather baffled by Dumbledore's sudden idea that someone inside the house could have been spying on them for Voldemort. Sirius' initial thought had been Percy, until Remus pointed out that Percy had still been in the Ministry holding cells when Harry had told them about the spy. After letting Sirius run through every possibility on why this bit of information didn't matter at all, Remus began to speculate on who it could actually be.

The only people who could be ruled out for certain were those under the age of one-year-old. Everyone else, no matter how strange it sounded, was a suspect.

"Come on," Sirius said, laughing after Remus voiced this. "You really think Molly Weasley could be a spy for Lord Voldemort?"

"I think all of us as the potential," Remus said darkly. "Even you or me."

Sirius jaw dropped. "You're not actually suggesting I'm the spy!" he said incredulously. "Moony..."

Remus shrugged. "I'm only saying, not accusing... And going by my own logic, that means my wife is also a suspect."

"But I'm your best friend," Sirius said. Remus rolled his eyes. "Fine, we can use your logic. Harry's a suspect."

"Sirius, this is not a contest," Remus said dryly.

"I'm not saying it is. We'll question everyone, then. We can't make it obvious that's what we're doing, of course, but that's the only way we're going to find out for sure..."

Sirius trailed off when Ginny ran into the room. "Bill attacked Harry!" she gasped.