Resolutions

By Neurotica

Forty-Four

There were many very confused people in the kitchen of Number Twelve.

First of all, there was Harry, who seemed to have been pulled against the wall by Emmeline, far away from his attacker. Then, of course, there were the Weasleys, three of whom were currently holding a struggling Bill from getting to Harry again. Molly and Fleur were both standing at the counter with their jaws dropped. The others in the kitchen were looking between the two wizards as though trying to figure out whose side to be on. Sirius and Remus rushed into the kitchen after Ginny, barely managing to take it all in.

"Stun him," Sirius told Remus, pointing to Bill, Sirius having left his wand upstairs. Seconds later, Bill was gently being laid to the ground by Fred, George, Charlie, Tonks, and, to Sirius' surprise, Hermione. He looked over to Harry. "You all right?"

Harry nodded, massaging his neck. "Fine," he said hoarsely.

"What happened?" Remus asked rather weakly.

It took a few moments for anyone to reply; no one seemed to be able to find their voice. "He just... lost control..." Tonks said quietly. "One minute, we were all laughing, the next Bill tackled Harry and was strangling him..."

"His eyes went all weird," Ron said tonelessly, staring at his oldest brother. "Right before he attacked Harry, they kind of faded."

Sirius sighed, trying figure out what to do next. "Charlie, Tonks, could you take Bill up to the library? I'll be there in a moment," he said. The two nodded and floated Bill's now unconscious body up the stairs. Sirius went over to Harry. "You sure you're all right?" he asked quietly, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm all right," Harry replied. "Just a bit confused."

"As are we all, kid," Sirius said. "Remus, could you come upstairs with me?"

Remus nodded. "Of course." He helped Harry off the floor and into a chair, and watched Emmeline and Naomi silently making tea for Molly—he was sure Naomi had snuck in a shot of Firewhiskey. "After you," he said to Sirius.

Once up in the library, Remus closed the doors and turned to the others.

"Any thoughts?" Sirius asked Charlie and Tonks. "You were there when it happened..."

Tonks sighed and glanced at her fiancé. "Well," she began a tad hesitantly. "My first thought was Imperius. Judging by what Ron said about Bill's eyes, I don't know what else it could've been."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking that, too," he said quietly. "Tonks, could you call your father? He can tell us for sure."

Tonks moved quickly to the fireplace and kneeled to call her parents' house.

"How could Bill be under the Imperius Curse?" Charlie asked, staring at his older brother. "Unless somebody in the house did it...?"

Remus shook his head. "You remember the mess with Slughorn? Nobody inside Hogwarts had him under the curse—Dumbledore thinks it may have been Voldemort. Bill could have had the curse placed on him anywhere—work, Diagon Alley, the Ministry... And anybody could have done it."

No one spoke anymore until Ted arrived ten minutes later wearing a bathrobe, looking like he'd been preparing for bed. He silently examined Bill, and when he finished, he sat on the coffee table, looking at the others. "Well, he's definitely been placed under the Imperius Curse. I can't tell who placed the curse on him, but I'd say he's been under their influence for about six weeks."

Sirius stared at him. "Six weeks?" he asked quietly.

Ted nodded. "At least," he replied. "It was well-placed, so it probably hasn't done much damage to him permanently; however, I'd still suggest taking him to St. Mungo's for a bit, if for no other reason than to make certain he doesn't hurt anyone else," he said a bit awkwardly, glancing at Charlie.

"How did none of us see it?" Tonks asked. "Half the people in this house are Order members, and two of us are highly trained Aurors..."

"Well, I would venture to guess that we were so caught up in what was happening to Sirius that none of us paid much attention to anything else," Remus said slowly. "Slughorn was around Dumbledore most of the time he was under the Imperius Curse, and even Dumbledore didn't recognize the signs. The last thing any of us would have thought was that Bill of all people would have..." he trailed off, not needing to say any more.

After a few silent minutes, Ted decided to transfer Bill himself, with Charlie and Tonks' help. Sirius went along as well—Remus thought it was mostly because he needed to feel a bit normal, and he still hadn't returned to work at the Ministry. After this, Sirius probably wouldn't wait much longer.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Remus didn't even get the chance to turn around before his wife entered the room and sat beside him. "Where'd everyone go?" she asked quietly.

"St. Mungo's," Remus replied heavily. "Ted decided it was best to take Bill away from the house for the time being. Just in case something else happens..."

Emmeline nodded silently, and scooted closer to her husband. He placed his arm around her waist, and rested his head on hers. "Harry will be fine. He's a little shaken up, but we all were. Naomi's given him a small shot of firewhiskey in a butterbeer, and he's calming down a bit," she said quietly, stroking his hand.

Remus smiled a little and shook his head. "Sirius and Naomi were meant to be." He sighed. "Did you notice anything odd with Bill?"

Emmeline shook her own head. "Not until right before he attacked Harry," she said. "He was fine before that."

"Ted says it was the Imperius Curse," Remus said. "He thinks Bill has been under it for about six weeks."

She furrowed her brow. "Six weeks?" she asked. "Is he sure?"

"I don't know, but he certainly seems to be."

"Well, I know Bill's been sick—he came down with a cold just after Sirius was taken to the hospital. Fleur says he's hardly been to work because of it."

"And nobody saw fit to mention anything?"

She raised an eyebrow. "It was mentioned," she said. "A few times. You and Harry and Naomi were spending so much time with Sirius that you blocked everything else."

"Oh," Remus said quietly. "Sorry..."

"Don't be, you had reason to worry. Anyway, we were all sure it was just a bad cold. Molly was giving him potions every few hours, and he was mostly on bed rest. When we did see him, he seemed all right," Emmeline said. "Reminds me of Slughorn."

Remus nodded. "Me too," he said. "You know, Sirius and I were just discussing the spy when Ginny came in to tell us what happened—"

There was another knock on the door and Hermione entered, looking a little nervous. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wondered if I could speak with Remus for a moment."

Remus raised his eyebrows slightly and glanced at Emmeline. "Of course, Hermione, come on in," he said.

Emmeline stood. "I'll go check on the twins," she said, smiling at Hermione as she left the room.

"Have a seat, Hermione," Remus said, scooting over on the sofa to make room. "What can I help you with?"

Hermione hesitated. "Is Bill going to be all right?" she asked.

"He'll be fine," he assured the witch. "He's been taken to St. Mungo's, and I'm certain he'll be back home in a few days, good as knew." Somehow, he didn't think Hermione had come in to talk about Bill. "What's bothering you, Hermione?" he asked gently.

She bit her lip. "I'm a little worried about Harry," she said quietly, not quite looking at Remus. "He's been acting a little oddly over the last few days." Remus furrowed his brow. "At first, I thought maybe it was because of Sirius, but I think it's starting to get worse. He's withdrawing a lot more... He's not himself."

"Not himself," Remus repeated. "You don't mean..."

"No, no," Hermione said hastily. "Nothing like Bill... And I highly doubt he's been possessed again. It's just like he's had a lot on his mind, and there isn't room for any of the rest of us. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes," Remus said, nodding. "That's something he's picked up from me, unfortunately." He sighed. "Do you have any idea what could have cause him to retreat like this? I mean, I've spoken to him numerous times over the last few days, and he seemed all right."

Hermione sighed. "I really don't know," she said regretfully. "When he's in a group, like at dinner tonight, he's fine, but if he's been on his own for a while, it's hard to get him to concentrate on conversations."

"Sorry to interrupt, but Remus, the meeting's about to begin," Emmeline said, poking her head through the library door.

"I'll be down in a moment, love," he said, his attention still mostly on Hermione.

"I'll save you a seat," Emmeline replied, making her way down the hall.

He turned back to Hermione. "I'll have a talk with Harry later," he said. "Will you keep an eye on him for me? Just until I can have a private conversation with him... Now I think about it, there are a few things I need to clear up with him."

"I can do that," Hermione said, nodding. "I doubt he'll like it, though. I'll just tell him I'm making sure he's studying for N.E.W.T.s."

Remus chuckled and stood. Hermione followed his lead. "He'll hate that even more. Good luck. I'm sure you'll have fun with it." He didn't miss the mischievous glint in Hermione's eyes. "I should be going. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Hermione."

"Anytime," she said, leading the way out of the library.

Once out on the landing, Hermione and Remus went opposite directions—Hermione to Harry's room, Remus to the basement kitchen. He descended the stairs quietly—the meeting had already begun—and worked to disguise his surprise when he saw who was speaking. He hadn't seen Snape since McGonagall's funeral, since Snape hadn't been to an Order meeting in months. Remus realized Snape had stopped speaking, and the other Order members were looking at him.

He smiled a little. "Sorry, please go on," he said, going to sit between Emmeline and Sirius.

"You all right?" Sirius asked quietly, under the pretense of reaching for a butterbeer in the middle of the table.

"We'll talk later," Remus replied under his breath, more interested in what Snape had to say rather than explaining something he didn't understand about Harry to Sirius.

From what he could tell, Snape was mostly reporting on Voldemort. Though he couldn't tell the Order where the Dark Lord was now hiding, the idea everyone seemed to have gotten was that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were still in the Albanian castle. There was, however, a bit of information regarding the Dark Lord's temperament as of late. The discussion was brought up towards the end of Snape's report, when Sirius, rather politely in Remus' opinion, raised his hand to ask a question.

"Since I haven't exactly been around, how did Voldemort react to Malfoy's death?" he asked, not quite looking at Snape.

"Not very well," Snape said briskly.

Remus raised his eyebrow. He'd expected at least a small amount of hostility from both wizards, but neither acknowledged the other as anything but fellow Order members. It was scary, to be honest...

"The Dark Lord was quite upset, naturally, and attempted to arrange an, ah, accident to occur within St. Mungo's while you were residing there," Snape went on. "Obviously, since you're sitting with us this evening, the plan never saw completion. Perhaps the Dark Lord believed the curse would overtake you in the end—I do not believe he thought you were as strong as you are." He paused and very slightly curled his lip—it was barely noticeable. "However, he did not appreciate your involvement in Lucius' death, and his hatred for you has grown to something all Death Eaters fear."

Remus glanced at his best friend, half-expecting to see a shimmer of pride on the Auror's face, but found something he'd only seen on Sirius' face when it came to Harry's well-being. Sirius looked genuinely afraid. Remus sighed and patted Sirius on the back.

Snape sat down at the back of the kitchen a few minutes later and Dumbledore stood to take over. Obviously, Snape's report was the main reason the meeting had been called that night. After covering a few high points, not even mentioning Bill, the Headmaster called the meeting to an end. As people started to make their ways out of the room, Sirius turned to Remus.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Sirius asked, his face and emotions back in check.

"Sorry?" Remus said blankly. For a moment, he didn't know what Sirius was talking about. "Oh, right... It's about Harry..." Remus gestured to Emmeline and Naomi, and they leaned in to hear what Remus had to say. He quickly told them all what Hermione had told him. "From what I could gather, which isn't much, he's upset about something. I'm not certain what it could be; you're here," he said to Sirius, "and mostly fine—that was his problem a few weeks ago."

"Well, sounds like an old fashioned Remus/Harry/Sirius talk is in order," Sirius said, sighing. "Been a while since we've had one of those, eh?"

Remus grinned. "That it has. Hermione's keeping an eye on him, to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, so we've got a bit of time."

Sirius nodded and glanced over at Snape briefly before turning back to his friends. "So I'm back on top of Voldemort's hit list. I wondered how long it would be before that would happen."

Though he was speaking lightly, Remus could still hear traces of fear in his best friend's voice.

"Well, you did kill his second-in-command. Malfoy did a lot more for Voldemort than a lot of Death Eaters ever did, whether he really wanted to or because he was forced," Naomi said quietly. "Personally, I feel safer just knowing he's not walking around anymore."

Remus glanced over and found Molly in deep conversation with Dumbledore. She looked quite happy about something, regardless of what had happened a little more than an hour ago. This brought up a thought Remus had been having for some time now.

"I wanted to run an idea by the three of you," he said quietly. "Until now, I haven't brought it up, because I know we've all gotten comfortable here. However, now that Harry's home, I think it should be considered." His family looked at him curiously. "I think we should consider moving back into the cottage. All of us," he added, looking at Sirius and Naomi. "This isn't where I want my children to be raised—though this house has gone under many, many changes since we've been here, it's still where part of the war is fought, and I'd prefer to raise my children outside of that as best I can."

His admission was met with silence, mostly because nobody had expected the subject to come up for some time.

"You want all of us to go?" Naomi asked. Remus nodded. "The only problem I foresee with that is our being wide open for an attack. It's already been proven that while the wards around the cottage are some of the best, they're not strong enough to keep out Death Eaters."

Remus nodded again. "I've thought about that," he said. "We could get a Secret-Keeper, like the Weasleys. I'm not sure who we'd trust with that—the four of us seem to be the least trusting group in the Order—but I'm sure Dumbledore would help us find somebody."

"Ted Tonks," Sirius grunted. "He'd do it in a heartbeat."

Emmeline nodded. "I trust him," she said.

"Me too," Naomi agreed.

"And me," Remus said. "Well, that's settled. Now we just need to talk to Ted."

"Harry first," Sirius said, his chair backing away from the table. "I'd like to know what's bothering him."

Harry lay on his bed, trying to read, but finding it difficult while Hermione kept looking at him over the top of her own book when she thought he wasn't paying attention. She'd come into his room a little over an hour ago without knocking and sat down at his desk without a word. He'd stared at her with a raised eyebrow for long minutes, but in typical Hermione fashion, she'd ignored him and opened a book.

He knew he'd been a little standoffish over the last few days to his friends, but he really couldn't help it. Since Remus had asked him whether he was ready to face Voldemort, he'd been thinking hard about his answer. He'd told Remus yes, he was, and he didn't think that answer was wrong, but he still wasn't certain he was right. Long ago, he'd been told that love was the power the Dark Lord knew not. Love. How could an emotion bring a wizard as evil as Voldemort down for good? Harry, of course, knew what love was. When he was a kid, he'd learned love from Sirius and Remus, and as he grew older, from Ginny. The only problem was even though he knew what love meant, how could he project that to an enemy? Was it supposed to be thoughts? Were his family and friends supposed to be around him when he fought the Dark Lord?

But again, how could a feeling, no matter how strong it was felt by a person, kill somebody? Hatred helped a person cast Avada Kedavra, but it wasn't only hatred that killed the person.

When there was a knock on the door, Harry found, once again, his thoughts would be put on hold. "Come in," he called. The door opened, and Sirius entered, followed by Remus.

Hermione smiled brightly at Harry's guardians, stood, and started out of the room.

"Thank you, Hermione," Remus called after her before she closed the door.

"Don't mention it," she called back.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Remus. "You put her up to this, didn't you?"

"Who, me?" Remus asked innocently. "Of course I did. Who else would've told one of your friends to sit with you until we came up here?"

Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes as Remus sat in the chair Hermione had just vacated, and Sirius parked his chair beside him. "What's up?" he asked.

"That's what we were hoping to find out," Sirius said. "Hermione's worried about you enough to go to Remus and bring it to our attention. So you tell us, what's going on?"

Harry shrugged. "Nothing," he lied. "I've just been doing a lot of thinking."

"About?" Remus asked curiously.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Stuff."

His guardians each raised an eyebrow. "You know, that excuse worked when you were twelve, but you're seventeen now; I think you can come up with something better than 'stuff'," Sirius said flatly.

Sighing, Harry wondered how much he should tell his guardians. "I don't know," he said exasperatedly. "The war, Hogwarts… you..." he added, looking at Sirius. "I mean, I'm glad you're alive, very glad, don't get me wrong, but it still bothers me that you've got to sit out the rest of your life in a chair."

Sirius looked at him in disbelief. "Harry, I've known you since the day you were born, and I knew your father since he was five; you wouldn't close yourself off just because you're worried about how I'm sitting out the rest of my life."

"Look, Harry, we know when something is really bothering you, and we know when you're lying to us, so save us all a lot of time and breath, and tell us what's on your mind," Remus said.

Harry didn't speak immediately. "Voldemort," he finally said. "I've been thinking about Voldemort. Happy now?"

"No," Sirius said, his brow furrowed. "Other than the obvious reasons, why would you be thinking about Voldemort?"

"I was thinking I could invite him to my next birthday," Harry said sarcastically. "Kind of a peace offering."

"Har har," Sirius mocked.

"What about Voldemort, Harry?" Remus asked, shooting a look at Sirius.

The boy sighed. "The usual how will I defeat him, blah, blah, blah," Harry said. "I mean, I've talked to Dumbledore about it a few times, but I still don't know what I have to do."

"Well," Remus said thoughtfully, "maybe it's one of those things that you won't know how to handle until the time comes. I know I've been in situations like that, and I'm certain Sirius has."

"Yeah," Harry said broodingly. "But what if the time comes, and I still don't know?"

"Run for it," Sirius advised. "No, better yet, transform into your Animagus form and fly away as fast as you can."

Harry and Remus both laughed.

"You'll be fine, kid," Sirius said quietly after a few moments of laughing with his family. "You've learned more defensive spells than half my Aurors know. Remus and I have taught you jinxes and curses most Hogwarts graduates have never heard of. We know you can hold yourself in battle, and we know you can face Voldemort without wetting yourself—you did it in your fourth year, and you can do it again. I know Remus and I may have made a few mistakes in terms of your defensive training—we should've had you learning the moment you got your wand, and I regret that now. But you've come a long way from that little shy boy we brought home from Privet Drive, Harry."

Harry smiled a little. "Thanks, Sirius."

Sirius winked.

"Speaking of bringing you home, Harry," Remus said after a minute or so, "we were discussing it downstairs, and I think you ought to have an opinion in this as well—"

"Wait," Harry interrupted, a grin playing on his lips. "You actually want my opinion in something?"

"Don't get smart," Remus said sternly. "I'm trying to take Sirius' advice and treat you as an adult for a change, don't ruin it." Harry and Sirius exchanged a grin. "We're thinking about going back to the cottage."

"You're joking!" Harry said, his eyes widening. "Really?"

"Really," Sirius said. "We haven't finalized anything, but if a few people agree, we'll be heading back there. What d'you think?"

"I think it's brilliant!" Harry said happily. "I'd love to go back there!"

Remus chuckled. "Thought so," he said, smiling. It faded a few seconds later. "There's something else we wanted to discuss with you as well, something I'm a little more hesitant to bring up." Sirius looked at him in slight confusion, but realization dawned on him moments later. "It's about the Order, and it involves an argument Sirius and I have been having for years. After bringing this up to Headmaster Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, and they agree that it's a good idea as well—"

"Will you stop babbling and get on with it, Moony?" Sirius asked, looking amused.

Again, Remus glared at his best friend. "I'm getting to it, Padfoot," he said coolly. "Harry, we think it's time you were allowed to sit in at certain Order meetings. Not every one, but ones we think may help you prepare with facing Voldemort. We'll let you know when you're allowed in and when you're not, but don't count on coming to every one."

"This is a privilege," Sirius said with uncommon sternness. "It's not a right, and you are not to abuse it. We're doing this only because we think you're mature enough to handle it. The moment we see you're not, you're out, and you'll never be allowed back in."

Remus looked at him in approval and took over again. "We understand that you will naturally want to tell Ron, Ginny, and Hermione what you've heard in the meetings, and while we trust them, you need to use your own judgment in what you mention to them. Is all this understood?"

Harry was staring at his guardians open-mouthed. "You're serious?" he whispered disbelievingly.

Remus groaned as soon as Sirius opened his mouth. "Since the day I was born," he said gravely. "But I don't think that's what you meant—we're not joking; this is nothing to joke about. The Order is a very big part of fighting Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and not everyone is up to the task. You're free to put in your opinions, but if someone doesn't agree with your ideas, you're not to pick a fight with them."

"Look who's talking," Remus muttered. Harry grinned. "You know how to act respectful to people even though you may not agree with them. We expect you to exercise those manners during Order meetings. Got it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I got it," he said, still not believing they were allowing him to join Order meetings. "So when's the first meeting I get to go to?"

"We're not sure," Remus replied. "Like we said, we'll let you know. Until then, keep in mind that your friends—Ron in particular—may not take well to your coming to meetings. You decide whether to tell him or not. He's your best friend."

"So is this where we all hug and be happy?" Sirius asked after a few minutes.

Harry threw a pillow at him.

A few days later, three big things happened in Number Twelve: the first happened when Bill Flooed home with Ted Tonks and Charlie. He'd been examined, and the curse had been countered. He was now completely fine, and gave Harry a heartfelt apology for nearly killing him, joking that it was a delayed reaction to finding out Harry was marrying his baby sister.

The next happened when Sirius and Remus pulled Ted aside and asked him about being their Secret-Keeper. Ted said he'd be more than happy to do it, and thanked the two younger wizards for trusting him like this. Sirius said after everything Ted had done for them, it was only natural that they'd asked him. Remus agreed. After all, Ted had been preparing Remus' Wolfsbane Potion for nearly a year, and Remus had never had a spot of problem with it.

The last major event of that day came in form of a letter from the Minister of Magic. Just as dinner was being set on the table, a large brown owl with a purple Ministry sash shot down the fireplace and landed on the arm of Sirius' chair. Slightly bemused, the wizard took the scroll from the bird and watched it soar back up the fireplace before opening it.

"About time," Sirius muttered, reading through the letter. Remus noticed he was smiling widely. "Well, you've got your Head Auror back. The Minister has asked me to return next Monday."

This news was met with cheers and chants from Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny. Naomi, beaming, stood to pour drinks. Coupled with moving back to the cottage that weekend, Sirius was in the best mood he'd been in for months. After dessert, Molly announced she and her children would be returning to the Burrow that weekend as well.

"It's long past due that we go home, and I want you all to know that you're welcome to the Burrow anytime. Except for you," Molly added as an afterthought to Sirius.

"What did I do?" Sirius asked indignantly.

Molly laughed. "Nothing, dear," she said. "You're not the only one who can tease people, you know."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but smiled and hugged the Weasley matriarch. "We'll all miss your cooking, Molly, and nothing more," he teased, kissing Molly on the cheek.

Molly and Sirius continued to argue playfully through the night, and Remus reflected no one in the house had been this happy since Charlie and Tonks had announced their engagement. Even Percy had been allowed in some of the conversations, and Fred and George hadn't sent him one glare all evening.

Ever the pessimist, Remus couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next to ruin their moods, but after Emmeline brought the twins downstairs to join the celebrations, he pushed that out of his mind and started making outrageous toasts with Sirius to their housemates.

"To putting the toilet seat down for the women!" Sirius said, raising his goblet of wine in the air. Remus laughed and clinked his goblet to his best friend's as everyone repeated the toast.

"To changing dirty diapers without choking on the fumes!" Remus toasted next.

The toasts went on and on, getting stranger and stranger as they went. By the time Sirius toasted the kitchen counters, after two bottles of wine, all their sides hurt from laughing and Remus called an end to the drinks. And after an impromptu duel between Harry and Ron versus Fred and George broke out, causing the others to cast protective charms around the four wizards to ensure the safety of Mira, Alex, and John, Molly called that it was time for bed.

"Wow, didn't realize it was that late," Remus said, looking at the clock. It was nearing three o'clock in the morning, and no one was showing any outward signs of exhaustion.

As everyone made their way upstairs, still laughing and talking loudly as they went, Remus decided Sirius may have had too much to drink—his chair was straying off into different directions, and, chuckling, Remus grabbed the chair and guided it up the stairs to keep his best friend from slamming into a wall.

Less than half an hour later, everyone in the house was fast asleep.

Moving day in Number Twelve was very quickly approaching once again—it was less than twelve hours away—and everyone was scurrying around trying to round up their missing possessions.

"Does anyone realize that this won't be the last time we ever come here?" Remus asked Emmeline, watching Ron and Harry rush to the drawing room to get the chessboards and pieces. "They act like the house is being sold."

"Well, I think everyone's hoping we'll never have to move back in, and maybe they want to assure that happens by making certain they've got everything they own."

Remus shrugged. "Well, everyone seems genuinely happy about the move, so I suppose I don't have too much to complain about."

Emmeline smiled. "Are you happy about the move?"

"Of course I am," he said. "It was my idea, wasn't it? I've been looking forward to going back to the cottage since Sirius and Harry took me there on Christmas. How about you?"

She shrugged. "Yes and no," she replied. "Regardless of the fact that this is headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, it has been our home for a year, and I've gotten used to it." She looked around the library, smiling. "Besides, this was where our children were born."

The books Remus had been neatly packing into his boxes lay forgotten while the Lupins paid attention only to each other.

Down the hall, in their own bedroom, Sirius and Naomi floated their clothes into boxes while Mira sat on the bed, watching them in fascination. Like Emmeline, Sirius was torn on whether he was happy about the move. On the one hand, his old feelings towards the very idea of Number Twelve were nothing short of loathing. He'd spent sixteen miserable years in this house, enduring the abuse of his so-called family.

Then again, over the last three years when he, Remus, and Harry had lived there sporadically, the house had slowly transformed to something that hardly resembled the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. One of the bigger changes had, of course, been Sirius' blasting a huge hole in the wall to get rid of his mother's portrait. Kreacher had died as well, and that had only improved the house's atmosphere.

He loved the cottage. It was where he'd found his family again after his release from Azkaban, and he couldn't wait to get back there. Ted would be meeting them there in the morning with Dumbledore to perform the Fidelius Charm. Sirius hated hiding, he always had. He recalled when James first told him that he, Lily, and Harry were going under the Fidelius Charm. James had admitted how much he despised the idea of sitting in his house while his friends were out fighting in the war. Luckily, Sirius and his family were allowed out of the house for work or just a walk around the land surrounding the cottage—the clearing where Sirius and Harry played Quidditch would be included in the charm. And it wasn't like they were having parties every weekend; all their friends were either in the Order or highly trusted by the Order, so they would all be let in on the secret.

Then once the war is over—whenever that will be—the charm can be taken down. Why am I debating this? We all know we're going to be happier once we get back there.

There was a small tug on his robes and Sirius turned to find Mira holding out her arms to be picked up. He smiled and pulled her into his lap. "You want to help Daddy pack, Mira?" he asked, floating his dress robes into one of the boxes. They folded themselves before they lay neatly in the bottom. Sirius glanced over his shoulder, finding Naomi was busy with something else, and held his wand in front of Mira. She immediately grabbed hold of it, giggling, as Sirius continued on with the packing. When he saw smoke coming off some of his Muggle clothes, he quickly put it out, and took Mira's hand off the wand. "I think Daddy can take it from here, love," he said quietly, placing his daughter back on the bed where she crawled to the pillows and started playing with one of Naomi's shoes.

Naomi sniffed. "What's that smell?" she asked, turning to Sirius.

Sirius cast an air fragrance charm quickly. "Er, nothing, love, nothing at all."

She narrowed her eyes, looked over at Mira, and went back to her work.

Chuckling, Sirius winked at Mira, and finished with his robes before starting with Naomi's clothes.

"Harry, have you finished packing your room?" Remus called from down the hall.

Harry turned to look at his room. All his books, clothes, and other possessions were still scattered all around. "Er, nearly, Remus!" he called back.

Deciding he'd rather spend the twenty minutes it would take to pack his things than feel Remus' wrath when the werewolf saw he hadn't done anything at all, he conjured a couple of boxes and sat them open in the middle of his room, then started packing all his belongings. Just as he was starting on the last of the boxes, he saw something dark zoom out from under his bed and land on top of his school robes. Harry went over to look inside and smiled at the sight of his stag with hazel eyes that Remus had charmed when he was six.

"Hey there, Prongs," Harry said, still smiling. "Been looking for you. Ready to go for a trip?"

After he packed all his photos into the box, he closed it up and sealed it, then started in on his books, which all went into his Hogwarts trunk. He closed the lid just in time for Remus to come in and check on his progress. Harry turned around, sat down on his trunk, and smiled at his guardian. "See, told you I was nearly done," he said.

Remus looked at him suspiciously and started checking the closet, dresser, and under the bed. He finally stood and wiped the knees of his jeans. "All right, I believe you. Finish up in here, we're going to have our final meal here as a family."

Harry raised his eyebrow. "So we're pretending we're never going to see each other again?" he asked.

"Molly's insistent on it," Remus said. "I'm almost positive they'll all be over to the cottage next weekend, but she's being sentimental, and everyone's going along with it."

Harry shrugged. "Works for me; I like her cooking."

Remus chuckled. "Don't we all?" he said. "Leave all the boxes until morning; we'll shrink them all at the same time." Harry stood to follow Remus out of the room. "So how are things with Ginny?"

"Fine," Harry said with a raised eyebrow. The tone in Remus' voice suggested he knew more than Harry wanted him to. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Remus said lightly, speeding up his pace and chuckling as he left Harry to mull over his behavior.

Next morning, after a large breakfast prepared by Sirius, Harry, and to everyone's surprise, Fred and George, it took Remus, Emmeline, and Naomi about twenty minutes to shrink every box in the house and split them between the destinations of the Burrow and the Cottage. After slightly tearful hugs from Molly, Remus led his family towards the fireplace and was the first to Floo to the cottage. Sirius would be taking a portkey, since his chair obviously couldn't make it through Floo transport.

Stepping out onto the carpet, Remus smiled. He was home. In less than an hour, Ted would arrive to perform the charm, then Remus and his family could relax and unpack for what would hopefully be the last time.

The fireplace lit up again, and Remus turned to catch Emmeline and Alex as they started to tumble out. He smiled at her. "Welcome home," he said quietly. She smiled and leaned up to kiss him before grabbing the arm of his robes to pull him aside before Harry arrived with John.

Over the course of the weekend, everyone worked to get their boxes unpacked and their belongings in their proper places. By Monday morning, everybody was mostly settled and no one could remember the last time they'd slept so well. Even Harry was up early for no real reason to have breakfast with his family. Sirius was, of course, in a very good mood. Today was the day he would finally return to the Ministry and Auror Headquarters. He was up and showered before everyone else, and had made enough breakfast to feed them and the Weasleys for three days.

"Why did you make so much, Sirius?" Remus asked after his second helping of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast. "Not even you can eat all of this."

Sirius only shrugged as he shoveled food into his mouth.

Once breakfast was finished, Sirius, Emmeline, and Remus prepared to go to work. "You're sure you two will be all right with the babies?" Remus asked Harry and Naomi.

"We'll be fine," Naomi assured them. "Besides, Ginny and Hermione are coming over later, and they'll help out."

"Isn't Ron coming over?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded, adjusting Alex. "Yeah, but he's no real help when it comes to the babies..."

Remus chuckled. "Right. Are we ready to go, then?"

"Absolutely," Sirius said cheerfully.

"I've never known a person so pleased to be going to work," Remus said flatly. "Are you Apparating?"

Sirius nodded. He'd attempted, as a joke, Apparating with his chair, and had been successful, much to his pleasure.

"See you three later," Harry called as they went out the front door.

Sirius couldn't have been happier. He entered Auror Headquarters before anyone had arrived and scared Proudfoot out of his skin. Proudfoot had been bent over his desk doing last minute paperwork and Sirius had entered silently, taking out his wand as he went. After using a well-placed charm, Sirius tried to get the grin off his face before speaking.

"Proudfoot!" he yelled in Mad-Eye's gruff voice. "What've I told you about leaving your office door wide open when there's no one else in Headquarters? Anyone could come in here and steal your spare quills, boy! Constant vigilance!"

After yelping and jumping so that he hit his knee on the desk and knocked over his inkbottle, Proudfoot looked at the door to find Sirius doubled up laughing. "Git," he muttered, cleaning up the ink, but grinning. "What're you doing here? I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Sirius got his laughing under control. "Bones didn't tell you? She decided it was time the Aurors had a decent leader again," he teased. Proudfoot laughed. "So what's been going on since I've been gone? Anything interesting?"

"Not really," Proudfoot replied as Sirius approached the desk. "It's been quieter than it's been in a while, but we're still rather busy with trying to identify the false Death Eater sightings opposed to the real ones. Dark Marks keep popping up, but when we get there, there's no sign that anything horrible happened."

"So people are conjuring the Dark Marks as a prank?" Sirius asked dryly. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard."

"Yeah, right up there with drowning in flobberworm pus," Proudfoot said. "Thing is, we can't prove who's been conjuring them." He shrugged. "I've thought about getting the rest of the DMLE on it so we can concentrate on actual Death Eaters."

Sirius sighed happily. "Ah, the joys of heading a department and delegating to the lower ranked beings."

The rest of the day went by at nearly record speed. Both Sirius and Remus were working late in their respective departments, but Emmeline left early to get back to the cottage. It was past nine when the two wizards met up in the Atrium. Remus and his department were still trying to prevent the use of giants by Voldemort, but after the first hint a few weeks ago, there had been no other sign that the Dark Lord was even planning an attack. The last thing Remus wanted to do was let the giant threat be forgotten. The entire wizarding world knew Voldemort waited for people to let their guard down before letting loose with a big attack.

"And the last thing any of us want is giants on the loose," Remus said as they made their way through the Ministry.

"But between them and seemingly unbeatable dementors, I'd take the giants," Sirius countered. "At least with them you can use Stunning spells... Granted, that's after they've nearly destroyed entire cities..."

The pair took the employee exit up to the London streets and made their way to the alleyway where they could Apparate without being seen by Muggles.

"I'd be more worried about—" Remus began. A red light had filled the alleyway and the werewolf fell forward, stunned.

"Moony?" Sirius said, looking at his unconscious friend.

He spun around, his wand at the ready, trying to find who had cast the spell. Before he could attempt to see anything, another stunning spell hit him directly in the chest.