The Feeling of Belonging

by jrose452

Harry and Sirius learn to bond after something disturbing happens, it has times both humours and sad. We get to see some TonksRemus action, Tonks&someone else, HarryGinny pairing and a weird bloke called Weatherly Woolnough! And Sirius just being very HIM

17. Chapter 17

Author's note - this is rather a long-ish chapter compared to many of the others. Sorry if you think it seems rather long but personally I get annoyed by lots of short chapters.

Please read and review and I promise I'm on a roll now so chapters should be coming out almost daily.

P.S Please feel free to make comments on my new beta as I do feel she's much better than the last one.

Thanks.

Chapter seventeen - 'It's you she wants go sacrifice yourself or something!'

"Shit Mrs Weasley's here, hide!" Sirius hissed running into the dinning room as the familiar sound of Mrs Weasley's snapping voice strode into the house.

"So where is he then? He best not be laying about in bed at this time of day! I want words with that Sirius Black!" She screeched as Tonks and Bill followed her in after bolting the door with shady looks.

"See it's you she wants, go sacrifice yourself or something." Harry muttered grabbing his books shoving them in a cupboard and pelting quickly into the kitchen before Sirius.

"Bugger that, I didn't love your dad that much, we'll hide for now! Where's the cloak?" Sirius quickly whispered back as they closed the kitchen door as quietly as they could.

"On me bed." Harry explained softly.

"Accro." Sirius whispered as the cloak suddenly appeared in his arms with a faint pop. Harry took it from him and pulled it around the two of them, while Sirius gently opened the door to check the cost was clear as he did Sirius had wild flashes of the very last time he'd been under the cloak.

It was the very last day of the school term, seventh year and Sirius was hiding with James under the cloak to spy on Lupin, he was attempting to ask Marie out to the after school summer barbeque and he seemed to be doing ok at the time while the two friends were willing him encouragement from the broom cupboard in the main entrance. This memory brought back a whole range of emotions back for Sirius until he spotted Harry's curious face peering out the cloak just below him, he was frowning slightly and although curious had a look of absolute seriousness around his eyes. This was no Prong's Sirius was hiding with, this was Harry and however much he looked like his father, clearly he'd made that face his own, with his own facial expressions and his own thoughtful eyes peering out.

"Come on, I wanna see her face when she can't get her way!" Sirius suddenly sniggered as softly as he could, the two slowly started to move through the dinning room to the crack by the hallway, Harry's feet stepping lightly across the floor as Sirius suddenly had the feeling that he was a rather clumsy buffoon when his knee clunked into the table.

Remus was supposed to be the clumsy one, why the hell was he bumping into such an obvious table.

They'd just reached the door when Mrs Weasley banged it open pinning them to the wall as she strode fuming into the room.

"I don't know what he's playing at! He's HARDLY a responsible guardian for Harry! And the TROUBLE we had trying to get him to do any house work over the summer! His cooking is beyond unhealthy, bordering of dangerous, all he ever does is sulk and he's leading Harry astray! Worst of all the poor boy seem's completely oblivious to the damage been inflicted on him by his IDIOTIC godfather." Mrs Weasley paced the room stiffly while Tonks and Bill tried not to catch her gaze. Harry however was sure she must be wrong in some major way and couldn't help but think to himself.

'Honestly, Sirius is like a sodding puppy dog, he can't even hurt Kresher these days, what the hells she on about him been dangerous for!'

"I mean, I know he must have really cared about James, they were always best of friends, and I suppose giving up his parenting duties like that is forgivable given that he was so young, Dumbledore was never going to leave Harry in his clumsy hands as a baby, but now...!' She huffed and shoved her hands tightly on her hips tapping her foot as she did.

At the youngness comment Harry was also a little confused, he can't have been that young because Harry had been born, if his parents were old enough to become parents then surely Sirius would be old enough to look after him?

Sirius however could feel his cheeks flushing even if they looked as pale as always, he hadn't given up his duties, they were taken away from him and the only comfort he had about that was that when Voldermort was concerned, hopefully Dumbledore knew better than him at the time. Not many things scared Sirius now but somehow the thought of facing Voldermort did send a shiver down his spine, on the one occasion he mentioned this to Remus early on when they were discussing Voldermort's sudden return, all he got was a weak smile, he wouldn't be human if the thought didn't un-nerve him at least a bit.

Sirius could feel Harry's shoulders tensing in front of him and put a firm hand on his shoulders to stop him from doing something daft that revealed them. He had the horrible feeling that Mrs Weasley wasn't going to give up too easily especially if she didn't know Harry was in the room.

'Dumbledore should see Harry's a totally unstable little boy!'

This was worse than the last comment Harry thought, why does she have to refer to him as being little, he'd been taller than Mrs Weasley for years?

'He needs FIRM hands to guide him along, not an over grown school boy with no manners and who can't even control his temper! What sort of a role model does that make for Harry? I bet Harry's mother would be terribly disappointed by him if he carries on like this! She'd turn in her grave if she could see how things had turned out, I'm quiet sure!" Molly snapped loosing a little of the redness in her face as she let off some steam, it was only a temporary side-effect as the colour soon flooded back to her cheeks when for the first time in quiet a while, mid-rant Mrs Weasley got a reply.

"Lilly would never be disappointed in Harry, he's turned out just fine Molly! She would be proud of him, like a good mother would be!" Tonks tried her best to defend making Sirius beam with pride a little next to Harry.

"Yes well, mothers are normally proud of there sons but I was meaning Sirius, he's hardly been a very good godfather has he? At a push he might make a weird distant older cousin like he is for you but never a PARENT!" Molly snapped back a Tonks.

"He's more like an older brother to me Mrs Weasley, don't presume to understand our little family and the way it works! You don't know what it's been like for us." Tonks snapped back as Harry without realising it whispered a comment almost right into Sirius's ear.

"I always wanted an older brother, be like Ron then. Couldn't be doing with all of his though!" Harry could feel Sirius's body shaking with silent laughter and was pleased Sirius wasn't taking Molly's hurtful words to heart as he realised what he'd said out loud without meaning too.

"Yeah well Harry's not exactly abundant in family members and Sirius does seem to really care about him. Maybe you should just give them a chance. So Sirius is just a bit eccentric and a little odd at times, that's all, but he's perfectly harmless really and he hasn't done anything wrong and he seems to try ever so hard to do the best by Harry and make him happy. Nothing more has ever been wanted of him as a godfather, so he's doing ok in his own little way!"

Bill tried to explain diplomatically but he was almost at the end of his tether with his mother, having come to see her today to find out why Fleur had come home in tears again after seeing her yesterday for less than quarter of an hour. Charlie had insisted it had to be a new record for the mother from hell and was still flatly refusing to go home however desperate for cash he got, so Bill had come time find out what she'd done this time and Charlie was sent to hold Fleur's shopping bags while she re-decorated the living room so it seemed more effeminate. Charlie wasn't overjoyed by the little task he'd been given but he could be worse, it could be his mother re-decorating.

"I suppose he IS rather fond of Harry! It's hard not to be he's such sweet LITTLE boy he always was."

"Oi, I'm not that little! Just not so tall as Ron!" Harry grumbled quietly as Sirius patted him softly on the shoulder now. Harry hated all this little talk, he couldn't help it if most the Weasley's were stockier than him, Molly shouldn't feed them so much fat and then Harry would be more normal seeming.

"But 'eccentric and only a little odd' NO! Those dementors addled his brain and he can't even remember who he's talking to most the time, I wouldn't be surprised if he calls Harry James more than half the time."

"I'm a James Potter as well, you wouldn't be that far off!" Harry whispered quietly, positive Sirius had never called him James ever, but was determined to show Sirius just how ridicules he thought Mrs Weasley was.

At this Sirius merely nodded slightly in agreement, Harry did have a point, he was called James, it was so no-one would ever forget who his daddy was. Lilly thought James was being daft, one look at Harry and it was blindingly obvious who his father was, but James had insisted and Lilly didn't seem to mind too much as it was far better than a few of the other suggestions James had made. It didn't matter how many times he insisted he got it out of a book, Felix James Potter was not a name for her little bundle of joy!

But Tonks suddenly had more confidence in her self and finally stood up for her beloved cousin properly taking a deep breath before she did.

"No he doesn't, Sirius is well aware of who he's talking to, he never calls Harry, James ever! You never saw them two before, Harry's totally different to his father. He's too sensible like his mother, if he was as stupid as you make out he should be calling Harry LILLY more than anything! And Sirius is doing fine with Harry, so what, he comes across as an idiot older brother some of the time, do you really think James was that bad a judge of character. He might even be doing it on purpose for Harry's benefit! You only met Lilly a few times but she loved her little boy and if she wasn't convinced Sirius was a good man she wouldn't let him any where near her baby, let alone make him his godfather!'

Tonks fumed and both Sirius and Harry swelled with pride at the balls Tonks had to stand up to Molly, Bill didn't seem to have the balls to do it yet, he still had the same idiotic idea that his father had that Molly Weasley could be reasoned with rationally. Charlie had assured him on many occasions that this was never going to happen, but Bill just kept on trying for the good of the family, they couldn't all be little hot heads.

'Harry can't stand having you around him, that's why he kept quiet about coming to stay, so you wouldn't come and interfere! He's probably hiding upstairs with Sirius because he heard your horrible screeching voice and he's waiting for you to leave before coming out again!" Mrs Weasley fumed at this then bit her venom up for one last attack at Sirius.

"James was a poor judge of character and that was why he was killed! Now he's left his only son in the hands of a complete FOOL! No wonder Harry's having so many problems he's terrified of his own godfather's incompetent handling, I saw that look Harry had when he first came here over the summer, and it wasn't an idiotic older brother he was looking too either! Sirius Black has an evil look in his eyes some times, it's enough to un-nerve me, no wonder it frightens the life out of Harry. Been pushed about like a bully of a godfather like that!" Mrs Weasley snapped leaning in closer to Tonks she could feel the specks of spit hitting her face.

"Oh so she finally noticed you weren't feeling yourself over the summer and you were like that before you even got hear!" Sirius hissed bitterly through gritted teeth making Bill's eyes flicker over to where they were hiding.

Harry merely leaned back near enough on to Sirius's chest to feel his breath rising in and out quickly as he silently fumed, he'd had a sudden bout of memory and felt that nasty shiver down his back and the worthlessness creeping up around his stomach. It worked, feeling Harry's little light frame so close to him made Sirius calm down and surprisingly for Harry he also felt strangely comforted by the way Sirius quickly put his hand on Harry's other shoulder to steady him more.

Hermione was right, as always, Harry had never understood what she was on about and had almost freaked out completely when she said it, but if Harry showed affection physically to Sirius, he would get it back and it would be comforting in a loving sort of way. Apparently it was a natural occurrence between two people who cared about one another whatever the sort of relationship it was and Harry had never realised this meant him and Sirius too.

"He hated it here and wanted to leave, but Sirius made him stay and kept coming up with excuses to keep him! Now I am going to search this house from top to toe and find Harry, then I'm going to take him back home with me and look after him properly! Give him some proper care for the rest of the holiday!" She spat out then walking past both Sirius and Harry marched upstairs slamming the door behind her.

"You should have just let her rant for a bit longer! Let her get it out her system a bit. Now Harry's going to get full pelt of her and he really doesn't deserve that!" Bill sighed sitting down but Tonks was looking at the corner behind the door where she was sure she had herd a noise before in the short times when Mrs Weasley had taken a breath.

"Harry, are you hiding there?" She asked carefully stepping closer with her hand stretched out. Seen as Molly was now safely banging around upstairs Sirius pulled the cloak down to reveal the two of them looking rather depressed in the corner on behind the other, still in the half hug as Sirius had both hands on Harry's shoulders as he leaned ever so slightly back.

"God I wish I had one of those!" Bill declared suddenly seeing Harry's rather fed up and disappointed face appear in the corner.

"Why's she so determined to drag me off to the burro? I like it here!" Harry mumbled to Sirius who pulled out two chairs so they could sit down.

"Don't know, she's a total bitch that women?" He muttered back resting his head in his hand gently after sitting down next to his godson.

"She would never have said that stuff about your parents if she'd known you were listening Harry." Bill explained somberly taking a different seat nearer Harry's end of the table and hoping to show that not all the Weasley's were so rude about people that unfortunately were already dead.

"She shouldn't be saying it regardless of Harry being in the room!" Tonks fumed sitting down next to Sirius who was still bawled over with pride for her balls however female she happened to be.

"I guess you're right, she shouldn't, seen as it's not true." Bill agreed steadily, terribly ashamed of his mother now and guiltily glad for once it wasn't aimed at his Fleur, she'd never be able to keep her cool and cope. His Fleur may be absolutely wonderful but his mother seemed to be doing his best to chip away at her with all her might and even he could see it was already beginning to show. He only hoped that by the time they get married his mother might have calmed down and softened a bit so they could have a peaceful marriage.

"Thanks for standing up for me Tonks, not many people would against her!" Sirius smiled down at Tonks who was resting her head on his arm totally exhausted from the outburst.

"I don't want her rifling through my stuff like normal." Harry muttered suddenly remembering how Mrs Weasley seemed to think going through his case pretending to look for dirty washing was fair game. She never even attempted to put things back as they were and once or twice he was sure a certain little magazine or drawing had been confiscated without his permission or even knowledge, she should at least consult him on his private things she removes, it's as bad as stealing from him what she does he was sure.

Who was she to decide what was and wasn't considered decent bed time reading when four out of her six sons had made a nice little income out of selling paper-bagged magazines, any number of contraband items and even the occasional teachers possession. Harry knew for a fact Fred had sold one of Madam Hooch's petticoats to a rather seventh year with rather peculiar habits.

"Ok, I understand.' Sirius replied then turned sideways on his seat to make an order.

'Kresher, come here quickly!' Kresher appeared in front of Sirius grumbling and looking like he'd just been woken up by a bucket of icy cold water.

'Kresher go up stairs and lock Harry's room with this key from the outside. You are not aloud to enter the room just lock it and come back down here quickly." Sirius commanded as Kresher still grumbling did as he was told and popped out the room.

"Won't she just use magic to unlock the door?" Harry asked naively making Sirius smile pleasantly down at him. The only reason this didn't bother Harry like when other people did it was because Sirius had only done it less than a handful of times at Harry's questions. With Dumbledore though, it was such a common occurrence that it occasionally put Harry off asking things.

"She can't, the doors have a dead lock seal on them so you can't open them except with the key. Well Dumbledore could probably find a way to and well, Moody seems to have no end of tricks up his sleeves as well.' Sirius explained watching the door for Kresher to return.

'I don't lock them that often incase something happens. I usually just lock Lupin's on a full moon. He doesn't like to risk getting out and he can be ever so arsy sometimes every now and then, ya' know, even when he's had his potions, it all depends what mood he's in and how good the steak is. I mean, don't get me wrong, Remus is fine most the time, he just, well, when he's fed up he has a habit of breaking things with me for entertainment, but apart from that, the dozey git tends to spend three days eating steak and sleeping. I mean, that'd be some people's idea of heaven! I love laying around, eating and sleeping some times." Sirius tried to explain as some sort of comfort that Remus was a perfectly safe Werewolf but wasn't quiet sure that it seemed to have worked so stopped quickly.

"But Kresher managed to open it?" Harry asked quickly, remembering what had happened in the summer with a sudden slight shudder making Tonks slightly worried. Ever since the incident she couldn't help but notice and pick up on anyone who had slightly negative feelings towards her Wolfie, even if he wasn't exactly hers.

"He had a key to every door then. I've taken it off him, now he can only touch it if I give it to him with a direct order and if he hangs on to it too long it'll hurt him and he has to bring it back to me to make the pain stop." Sirius explained as the sound of Kresher popping and grumbling as he came back to his hated master as he was told too.

"Kresher has done what master has said. Poor mistress, having her house filled with filthy mudblood scum, it would break her poor heart!" He squeaked bitterly. Although it was clear Sirius could not abide what Kresher was saying, compared to his previous mutterings, he was so quiet now that Sirius saw it a pointless exercise to shout at him when Harry was around and so quickly sent him to his den instead.

"Now give me the key and go back to you den until I call for you!" Sirius commanded but Harry noticed it had almost none of the hatred it had the last time Harry had seen him speak to Kresher. If anything, Sirius seemed little more than board when he looked at Kresher and was only putting up with him because he had too. Sirius was clearly no SPEW follower, he just seemed dis-interested.

"What do you think she'll do when she can't find me upstairs?" Harry asked quietly, hoping Molly Weasley would give up and go home soon but some how doubted this possibility.

"Dunno, I just want her to go away. But I have this horrible feeling she won't give up easily on you." Sirius sighed as Harry rested his head lazily on Sirius shoulder for some more comfort. Sirius wanted to slouch now too but with Harry on one shoulder and Tonks still happily on the other he had to sit perfectly still and up right to support them both.

"Suppose, I hope she goes soon, I wanted to do some more of Dumbledore's homework this morning." Harry sighed looking ever more miserable by the second.

"Hmm yeah, me too. Never mind, she can't move in, I won't let her. One screeching mother is enough for me." Sirius tried to smile at Harry but wasn't sure what to smile about.

"I'm glad I don't have a screeching mother." Harry decided in his random muttering way while Tonks looked on and Bill listened quietly.

"No, your mother never screeched, she had this look though so she didn't have to.' Sirius explained remembering how a story about James and Lilly had cheered him up last time so Harry sat up and raised an eyebrow in anticipated interest to hear about this look his mother had.

'Yeah well, she was very good at getting James to do things for her and when things used to annoy her she would have this look of 'do as I say, or James is sleeping on the floor tonight!' You see, your dad was always very pissed off if he had to sleep on the floor and would do pretty much anything to keep in your mothers good books, even kick me out on me arse when I over strayed Lilly's welcome." Sirius explained with an odd look that Harry found highly amusing. It was on times like these that he was never quiet sure if it was the story itself that cheered him up or just the really weird way Sirius had of telling them.

"Did he often have to sleep on the floor then?" Harry asked curious by this peculiar thing his parents had but still rather amused as he imagined simply why his father wouldn't want to have to sleep on the floor, as long as he didn't mental go into too much detail Harry didn't find the whole topic of his parents sex life too disgusting.

"No, he made sure he didn't have to very often, accept when your mother was feeling particularly sick with you. Then everything was nearly always his fault and I got to be favourite slave for a while because it wasn't me that got your mother knocked up in the first place." Sirius grinned seeing how Harry was smiling a bit about his mother, forgetting what Mrs Weasley had said only a few moments before.

"Favourite slave?" He wondered though, sure by the amount of gold he'd inherited his parents must have had house elves, unless his mother was a bit of SPEW nutter like Hermione, he could always imagine her being so but never dared ask in case Hermione found out and obliged him to join the campaign more because of it.

"Yeah well your dad fussed over Lilly constantly when she was pregnant, didn't want anything to upset her in case it stressed you both out, so he drafted me and Lupin in to basically run around after her. In return I got to be your godfather and Lupin got fed and slept on the sofa half the time."

"Was he between jobs again or something?" Harry wondered, sure Lupin must have had some sort of job for longer than a year at least once in his life, no one was that un-employable, not even a werewolf.

"Yeah something like that, he was having a hard time of it though then since Marie up and left him the moment she worked out he was a werewolf and it was never going to change." Sirius explained well aware Tonks was listening in to the conversation.

"That must have been harsh. So did I nearly end up with someone else?" Harry asked, wondering if he could ever imagine a godfather that wasn't as odd and interesting as Sirius.

"No, never, James promised me, Lilly was just using it as an excuse to get me to do her cleaning for nine months and all the sodding gardening. It was bloody huge that garden she had, and she wanted you to have a nice paddling pool to play in when it was sunny, so got me out there digging nearly every day for months. You know I dug that hole three times because she couldn't decide where to put it." Sirius mock complained as Harry giggled away at the thought of Sirius being made to work hard by his mother while she was probably heavily pregnant with him and sat out sun bathing with some fruity drink he'd prepared for her complete with little umbrella and shaped ice-cubes.

"Would have been useful that, I might have learnt to swim better?" Harry explained when he'd finally stopped sniggering at Sirius.

"You can't swim?" Tonks asked sitting down again with a few butterbeers to enjoy the conversation too.

"Well, not really, no. My Uncle always hoped if I couldn't swim I might fall in some deep water and drown, even took us on a little boating holiday once.' Sirius looked shocked but Harry figured he should probably tell him fully so Sirius could get over the shock in one go.

'Dudley pushed me over the side a few times but even if I couldn't swim I could hang on to the railing's pretty well, whatever I was dangling above." Harry explained holding his nimble strong fingers up a bit.

"But in the tournament you swam in the lake to get to Ron?" Sirius asked shocked.

"Yeah well I'd eaten Gillyweed hadn't I? So it was sort of easy to swim then you just sort of tried to walk horizontally and my fines propelled me along. But normally, anything past my neck and I can't hardly cope. I don't really like mentioning it, incase some nutty death eater realises and pushes me in a lake or something. I might drown, I'm not even too keen on some of those really deep prefect's bathrooms." Harry finished, trying to reassure Sirius a bit who had taken for granted that most people could swim as well as he could.

"Crickey I had no idea. So really you can barely swim?" He asked again just to be sure.

"Yeah well, where did you expect me to learn? It's not as if my aunt took us swimming or anything, I was always left in the viewing gallery when Dudley went for his lessons or with Mrs Figg when they went out on a Saturday morning." Harry shrugged then took a swig of his drink while Bill was watching through the door.

"You know Moody can't swim well either but that's because of his wooden leg." Tonks started to explain.

"Quick she's coming back." Bill hissed from the door he'd been listening at as Harry and Sirius jumped back under the cloak in the corner and Tonks hastily tried to hide the bottles in the cupboard with Harry's books fortunately the only one that was still half fully got tipped in a vase first.

"Where are they!' She cried as loud as she could as soon as she'd pushed her way back into the room.

'I can't even find anything of Harry's in the house! I've even been through Sirius's draws! All I can find are a pile of inappropriate magazines and a few changes of grubby clothes! Well, has he been here or not, Lupin seemed quiet rude when I knocked on the door, told me to bugger off and slammed it shut! I've never seen him like that, Sirius must really be damaging if he can even affect Remus." Tonks smirked behind Mrs Weasley's back, her wolfie had told Mrs Weasley to bugger off, but Sirius was rigid and tense, how dare she go through his things?

"Those magazines were a present from Harry, I hope you put them back where you found them?" Tonks asked firmly, well aware how much it would annoy Sirius to know she'd been in his draws and aware how they seemed to mean something to Harry and Sirius more than just the pretty pictures even if she didn't know what.

"I most certainly did not, what does he want them for anyway? And if he's sending Harry to by filth like that then really he doesn't deserve to be in the same house as him! It's one thing to make alcoholic cake but it's another to drag Harry into it as well!" She snapped but unfortunately so did Sirius who was struggling to contain himself behind Mrs Weasley.

The Cloak fell half off as Bill had to keep a straight face to his mother well aware of the enraged Sirius struggling silently against Harry not to throttle his mother there and then from behind. Tonks managed to get Mrs Weasley to move though giving Harry and Sirius more room to silently squabble although she was slightly suspicious that it seemed to have more to do with methods of throttling and not weather Sirius should throttle the women or not.

"Why don't you sit down for a bit?" She asked trying to be polite despite the gritted teeth and pained expression.

Harry struggled with Sirius until he finally gave in and gestured to Tonks to keep Mrs Weasley talking while he stuffed the cloak under the cupboard and leaned against the wall next to Harry with his arms crossed.

"Why were you going through Sirius's things?" Bill asked a little forcefully well aware that you shouldn't go through a grown man's draws unless you're married to him and even then you shouldn't really get caught doing it.

Fleur never did however much Bill was sure stuff had been moved about a bit. It never bothered him because nothing ever went missing and he had nothing to hide in his draws anyway, plus Charlie was occasionally a bit lax about keeping up with things and had a habit of borrowing clean nicely ironed clothes from Bill if he was in a hurry.

"Well I looked everywhere for any sign of Harry and couldn't find him anywhere, even though I'm sure he's here, his shoes are in the hallway for god sake! But the amount of DUST I found in the bedroom Ron and Harry shared over the summer was unbelievable!" She snapped sitting stiffly down totally unaware of Sirius and Harry watching from behind her.

"Yeah well Sirius is hardly going to clean the whole house is he? He just does the rooms he uses." Tonks explained as if it was plainly obvious and Sirius nodded in agreement to this and Bill forced himself to have a straight unmoved face.

"Well you can hardly say he cleaned THIS room recently, look at the state of the fireplace!" Mrs Weasley snapped tutting at the slight bit of dust from the fire last night.

"Oi! I cleaned this room the other day with him. I'll have less of that, this room is perfectly fine!" Tonks snapped back her face going red again.

"Well that explains it, your mother did a POOR job at bringing you up then didn't she, if you can't even do a proper cleaning spell!" Mrs Weasley huffed reminding Harry strangely of his aunt although definitely a podgy version.

"My mother did a very good job of bringing me up and at least I still talk to her, your daughter refuses to even speak to you now!" Tonks snapped back as Sirius was about ready to make himself noticed, she'd slagged of his dear Andromeda, there was no going back she'd crossed the last line.

"That is none of your business! Ginny is just at that trying age, that's all! She'll see sense soon enough and I've seen your mothers house, it's a total pig sty in that kitchen!" At this Sirius thumped the wall right behind Mrs Weasley so she jumped out her skin and up on to her feet.

"No one insults my fave cousin in this house! Now I've had quiet enough of listening to you so I am asking you just this once to quietly leave!" Sirius grumbled with his dark almost evil eyes and grinding gruff voice. He was furious, Harry was just so pleased Sirius had lasted this long, it was far longer than Harry had ever imagined him capable of but now he was angry Harry was trying his best not to be frightened by Sirius's possible bad temper.

"What you've been stood there listening?" She asked half frightened, half determined to beat him into submission.

"Yes, every word. NOW PLEASE LEAVE!" He bellowed at her. Harry didn't like to see Sirius so angry like this but he wasn't going to move away for anyone, Sirius was standing up for him and all his family and Harry couldn't help but respect that. Plus his legs had gone so ridged and cold trying not to throttle Mrs Weasley with Sirius when she ranted that he couldn't move much anyway.

"Don't you yell at me you arrogant little boy! Well now you know what I think of you and to that list I think I might add your a coward seen as you choose to hide in a corner rather than face people like a man. Maybe Snape is right in his comments about you. Maybe you really are a coward and hid in Azkaban to escape your duties of dealing with Harry!"

She snapped back trying to think on the spot. At his though Bill couldn't tell who was more angry but Tonks was definitely the reddest in the face. Harry had finally decided he hated Mrs Weasley and the way she behaved and Sirius had finally decided enough was enough.

At this last comment Sirius seized her by the shoulder tightly gripping her wand arm and dragged her to the front door, where with one hand he opened it and pushed her out silently, slamming it behind her he turned to face Bill breathing hard and as white as a ghost.

"I won't tell dad if you two don't?" He quickly whispered looking at Harry and Tonks who were both stunned by what Sirius had finally done and struggling to find a voice between them.

"I won't." Tonks whispered back.

"No, course not." Harry quickly added but he couldn't wait to tell Ginny, she'd be almost as proud of Sirius now as he was.

"Good err, I think I best make sure she behaves out there, don't want her making a scene do we, err bolt the door and I'll take her home." Bill explained then turned to disappear out into the square outside.

"Your gonna be in so much trouble if anyone finds out." Harry whispered beginning to smirk slightly as Sirius led the way back into the dinning room.

"Don't care! I can put up with her having a go at me easy, I learned years ago to just stop listening to people like my mother, but to have ago at your mum and dad like that is crossing the line and then slagging off my dear Andromeda! What does she think she's going to achieve? I mean, who the bloody hell is she ever going to convince now, everyone liked your parents and everybody else likes you Harry!"

Sirius grumbled looking down at Harry who was still grinning away at what Ginny was going to think, that and he kept having flashes of Tonks black thong sticking out that he just couldn't help but notice. He knew it was inappropriate but it was sexy and he could even surprise himself by how horny he got at times. He just noticed things and then he had to quickly think of something to stop himself from getting too horny so no one noticed.

"Yeah and you have been overly fond of my mother haven't you! Ever since you were really young." Tonks giggled along with Harry and Sirius finally broke into a smile.

"Yeah well, I was supposed to marry her wasn't I? Still remember being told by my father who he'd set up for me. He had a right weird look about it too, I'd never seen him look so happy before." Sirius laughed as he remembered the conversation and then his own personal reaction to it, but Harry had never guessed this about Sirius. He couldn't imagine Sirius as anything but a young ladies man and or the weird bachelor he was now. To think of him dating or even married was just a bit too weird to be believable.

"You were supposed to marry her mother?" Harry asked still a little confused.

"Happened a lot when I was young, arranged marriages and all. Unfortunately for me though, Andromeda ran off with Ted instead to have Tonks so I didn't even make it down the isle. I'd never been so relieved in all my life and it wasn't long after that I moved out for good. I already practically got me feet under your dad's dinner table so it wasn't really a big step. And your grandmother used to send the most lovely Shepard's pie care packages nearly every week." Sirius explained sitting back down at the table and grabbing another cake from the cupboard.

"Do you need a pick me up Sirius?" Tonks asked raising one eyebrow at him.

"Something like that, anyway I thought you'd gone to work?" Sirius asked wondering why she'd come round today anyway.

"I did but I got the day off, they don't need me as such so I went to do some shopping while I ordered things in for Podmore, but bumped in to Bill trying to convince his mother not to be so horrible to Fleur, they were squabbling as they walked through Diagon ally and I couldn't unfortunately ignore them."

"Oh right, here you go?" Sirius wondered as he past out three pieces from the tin but he was still a bit thin in his voice and obviously some what shaken now his anger had subsided but Tonks and Harry were sure he'd be back to normal in no time with a bit of cake and conversation.

"Yeah well it seems she'd done her offensive thing to Fleur and sent her home in tears to Bill and he was trying to find out why, all he could get out of Fleur was she hates me and that she'd said Fleur would be a terrible mother or something like that. And apparently all he seemed to get out his mother was that Fleur was some stuck-up vain French strumpet!" Tonks explained biting into her cake and licking her lips.

"That's not very nice. Fleur would be fine as a mother, she's really good with her little sister." Harry explained trying to remember everything he'd seen of Fleur and deciding yes she would probably be a very nice mother and probably enjoy it immensely if she had a little girl.

"That's what Bill said but Mrs Weasley got wind of how Fleur's mother is actually divorced and Gabrielle is from her second marriage not her first." Tonks explained but Harry merely blurted out.

"What's that got to do with anything loads of people get divorced?"

"Not in the wizarding world Harry, that's a muggle thing and apparently a French thing too. Most wizards stay married through anything. But actually Fleur's from the second marriage and Gabrielle's from her third from what Ginny told me." Tonks explained.

"Yeah well that's just daft. If you're married to an arsehole you might as well get divorced even my aunt's threatened it once or twice." Harry explained frowning and biting into his cake again.

"It's normal for muggles to get divorced?" Sirius asked curiously often a little surprised how his parents seemed to manage through things. Although neither had any intention of leaving the house once they realised they couldn't each drive the other out, they spent the last ten years together trying to poison one another, until his father finally had a heart attack and died completely by surprise.

"Err, well it's not uncommon. Plenty of muggles end up divorced just like homosexuality isn't quiet the dreadful thing wizards think it is. It's just one of those things you either except or ignore and don't make a big deal out of." Tonks explained casually

"Or teen pregnancy but that's more because it happens so often not because it's really accepted." Harry added remembering how animated his aunt got when she started on about two girls that Harry went to primary school and had both ended up having a child before they finished secondary school.

"I'm sure it wasn't always like that?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"No, not always but it sort of is now, wizards are very prejudice in a totally different way to muggles. Colour of our skin never really mattered much, but going against the family and keeping up appearances is far more strict." Tonks explained but Harry had to agree with her, from what he'd seen even the Weasley's were very proper about how they were perceived as a family whatever they thought about each other.

"I'm glad you kicked her out Sirius, but I don't think it's going to make her go away. She'll probably just get worse now ya' know!" Harry wondered aloud before seeing Sirius's slightly shocked with himself face again.

"Yeah I really wasn't going to do it, just she wound me up too much and well touched too many raw nerves that's all. It'll probably back fire on me anyway but hay, Dumbledore's got a hundred and one more important things to worry about other than me so by the time he gets round to telling me off, you'd be well back at school and stuff anyway."

Sirius explained finally cheering up again. Harry agreed that Dumbledore probably did have more important things to worry about than Sirius but Harry worried about Sirius, and he worried about how other order members were going to react when they hear what had happened, Sirius was already well known for having a somewhat board temper in the long hours of the day.

"So what are you two planning to do for the rest of the day?" Tonks asked brightly hoping the run in with Mrs Weasley wasn't going to totally ruin the day.

"Don't mind really what would you like to do Harry?" Sirius asked. Harry sat quiet for a moment then wondered.

"Got any games?" He asked all of a sudden.

"Games? Yeah." Sirius replied sure he'd had some sometime or other recently in this big old house.

"Like twister or something?" Harry asked thinking he'd rather have fun with Sirius than anything else after Mrs Weasley and although he was sure Sirius didn't have twister he hoped he'd be able to think of something fun to do and the concept of the game was entertaining enough.

"We aren't playing twister Harry!" Tonks declared firmly but Sirius didn't know what it was apparently and had his odd confused look on that made him if at all possible look a good five years younger than he normally did.

"Why not, it'll be fun?" Harry asked naively knowing full well what Tonks was objecting to, she was hardly the most graceful person in the world.

"The whole idea is to get yourself in a ridicules position and fall over!"

"See, you'd be good at that Tonks. You're brilliant at falling over in ridiculous situations." Harry grinned.

"No we aren't playing it, why don't you play chess or something while I...?"

"Go chat with Remus?" Sirius quickly put in but Tonks frowned at him going pink in the cheeks a bit and looking a an awful lot like Sirius when he was concentrating when she did.

"No, he won't talk to me!" Tonks snapped back going even redder now in the cheeks but obviously a little upset by the whole Remus subject.

"He will if you go talk to him, besides, he promised yesterday to be nice, but he obviously needs a kick in the right direction again to remember!" Sirius explained pulling a chess set out one of the side boards.

"No, he'll just ask me to leave again in his stupid super polite way!" Tonks replied sitting down with big sorrowful eyes that looked shockingly like what Sirius used to be capable of making before Azkaban sunk them down into his sockets.

"Then be a stubborn little thing, you're perfectly capable of it! Now go up there and talk to him or I'll tell Mrs Weasley you two are dating!" Sirius threatened with a broad grin.

"You wouldn't dare!" Tonks replied jumping up to her feet.

"I just kicked her out on her arse, you don't want to call my bluff, Nymphi!"

"Fine but this is the last time you're going to convince me. If he doesn't show any interest in it I'm declaring him a eunuch and giving in!" She decided then left the room quickly to slowly walk up the stairs.

"You wouldn't dare let it slip to Mrs Weasley would you?" Harry asked.

"Not a chance, I don't want to even speak to the women never mind slip her gossip tip bits, but Tonks doesn't know that.' Sirius replied setting up the chess board between them.

'Anyway speaking of interesting gossip who's this girl you're seeing anyway?"

"I'm not telling." Harry quickly replied with a little smile at himself, he'd been wondering when Sirius would get round to that conversation.

"Oh you will, I can be incredibly annoying some times, well most the time according to Remus." Sirius smirked determined to find out who she was now Harry was being so evasive about it.

"I can take it. You haven't met my aunt!" Harry replied quiet sure he could cope with anything Sirius throws at him, he's not likely to pin him down and force it out of him with truth syrup or anything would he.

"I have actually. Just the once though and well, she did like me until James came out and said hello that is, and he ruined it all for me.' Sirius explained surprised he could remember something from so long ago.

'Yeah that's it, we'd gone to Lilly's just after we'd finished school to err, say hello. James had been invited for the afternoon to meet Lilly's mother but I sort of tagged along uninvited. Didn't matter that much, I was out in the garden looking at those weird gnomes muggles have and watching the naibours cut things. Anyway she came home and being me, I started talking to her, she seemed ok thought I was the new boy next door, until James came out to check I wasn't misbehaving too much." Sirius smiled and flicked his wand so yet more butter beers appeared.

"What was she like? She's always been very severe and cold with me, ever since I could remember." Harry asked.

"Ok sort of, very weird from what I could tell but I'd never really spent a lot of time around muggles before, that's why I'd tagged along, to be nosy. But soon as she worked out I was with James she guessed I was a wizard and tried to kick me out the garden.' Sirius laughed heartily at this.

'She wasn't having much look and James didn't know what to do, he'd promised Lilly I would behave and anyway, her mother, your nanna, came back from the shop to find what she thought was Petunia man handling little innocent me in the garden.' Sirius explained as Harry continued to laugh his head off at the thought of what might happen next.

'Any way it all came out ok because Petunia left to see her friends and it seems Lilly had painted a good enough false picture of me to her parents and I got to stay for dinner with James, I remember we had shepherds pie and it was almost as nice as Andromeda's."

Sirius explained as Harry could just imagine Sirius's cocky charming nature getting him out of almost anything. Harry was only beginning to see past the Sirius's Azkaban face to the youthful man underneath and the more he listened to stories about his idiotic ways when he was young the more he saw it.

They carried on talking about Harry's aunt for a while as they played chess and Harry explained how she was now but found himself carefully editing his stories so Sirius wouldn't realise just how bad life with the Dursley's was. Sirius however, had spent years when he was younger editing his own family upbringing and could spot Harry's quiet looks better than Harry could give them to tell when he was lying about something. He knew Harry was hiding an unpleasant time but didn't want to mention it and was happy enough just to see Harry happy and left it at that. Eventually the conversation easily got on to Harry's cousin Dudley and how Hagrid had given him a pigs tale when he first found out about Hogwarts and that Sirius wasn't supposed to mention it.

"You know, I really would like to meet them some day just to see how weird they are. I wonder if she would remember me from that day?" Sirius wondered as Harry's queen knocked the stuffing out of one of his knights, for once Harry seemed to be winning.

"She probably would you know, when she heard your name on the telly and then me mention you, she remembers far more than she ever lets on, even to Vernon, though she doesn't seem to remember how wealthy my dad must have been, other wise I would have had more problems I'm sure when I go home for summers."

"Well your mother was never interested in money, she just made your dad deal with any bills and went shopping. So I doubt she would ever have told her sister anything. And it was me that ended up paying for most the wedding because Lilly didn't want James to waste his money when she was probably already suspicious about being pregnant with you. We never did quiet work out if you were already on the way when they got married on not. And well, James wanted her to have a big wedding so I got the most the bill to stop the squabbling. Fortunately your mother didn't have an expensive taste and there were more friends there than family on the day."

"I've never bothered much with money, I never really had any before and now I just dip in it and get me stuff for school and then shut the door and leave. To be honest it's usually other people that take the money out for me these days I haven't bin to the bank in ages." Harry explained calmly.

"It's not usually you that takes your money out?" Sirius couldn't help but wonder but then suddenly remembered how Bill had dropped Harry's money bag off for him so they wouldn't have to stand around waiting for money when they went into London over the summer.

"Well no. I wish people wouldn't though, it doesn't seem very right that the Weasley's should always do it for me. But I suppose it does make things a bit easier seen as I'm hardly aloud out anywhere any more." Harry explained frowning a little at his lack of normal shopping habits. Even when he went into Hogsmade he was sure there was more than one wizard from one organization watching him.

"Yeah that sounds like your mother. Bet you haven't got a clue what you own have you?" Sirius smiled off hand as he tried to think of a way out of Harry's trap on the board.

"Not the foggiest and well, I wouldn't know how to find out. I don't like rubbing it in Ron's face, his family are hardly well off are they, that's why he makes me get him cheaper gifts for Christmas and stuff so I could hardly ask him."

"From what Lupin said it sounds like Hermione's not too bad off either."

"No she's err, part of the muggle upper middle classes and both her parents work full time now she's at school most the year and are very successful from what I can tell. They clearly think it's rude to brag and show off about money but it's obvious someone in that family does some very good investing or something. Do you think it's wrong I just let any old person at my money, I hardly know Bill?" He suddenly asked as Sirius began supping on another butterbeer and had to pause a moment before answering such an odd question.

"I wouldn't ever let anybody but Remus in mine and that's only because I have too and well, I guess it is a bit inappropriate the Weasley's just getting it themselves for you, I get the impression Bill just turned up with your money and didn't exactly ask how much you wanted and what not, and even if stealing wouldn't even occur to them.' Sirius pondered on it for a minuet while his queen knocked Harry's knight in to dust only to be taken down by on of Harry's bishops.

'I don't know, personally I wouldn't like it, it would seem odd to me but if you're not that interested in it and you don't get much chance to go to Gringotts then I suppose seen as you trust them so much." Harry wondered too and got his own queen to kick at Sirius's bishop in the process. But Then Harry came to a rather convenient conclusion and blurted it out all of a sudden.

"Can't you deal with it for me?' Harry asked and Sirius sort of frowned then didn't.

'I mean, it shouldn't take that long to do and I really don't want to but I think somebody should really know something about it." Harry decided seeing Sirius's placid face.

"Sure if that's what you want. I would probably have to do it in yours or Remus's name but why, what do you want me to do?" Sirius asked only half concentrating on the game now. He had spent quiet a bit of time going through all his inheritance working out what was what, after numerous relatives had snuffed it while he was in Azkaban and he'd been the oldest and consequently picked bits up from all over the place. It wouldn't be hard for him to do the same for Harry just a bit time consuming that's all particularly doing it so the ministry wouldn't notice, which was something he had plenty of spare time for.

"Find out how much I own I suppose, make sure it's all where it should be. Hermione said I should really make an effort to keep track of it all but then, she says that about Ron's socks as well.' Harry shrugged but Sirius only to happy to do things for Harry figured he may as well if it kept Harry comfortable.

'I mean you knew most things about my dad so you might as well do his finances as well. Just, I always got the impression there was more than one vault that's all."

"Of course there is Harry, James stashed money all over the place to keep it safe, which number have you been using anyway?" Sirius asked knowing enough about James to have stuff all over the place just where his father William James had left it and then some.

"Err, number 687 why?" Harry replied. But Sirius merely barked with laughter at Harry's rather confused face.

"Oh well you really are like your mother then. I honestly don't know much about what money you've got, but I know that was Lilly's spending money. She had a habit of liking to buy you things even before you were born, clothes, toys, books, pram, cot, things like that. It started when James really finally accepted she was going to be having you and after a rather mad spending spree she agreed only to take money from that vault so he could keep track of it."

"Oh so it was sort of mum's spending-on-me money?" Harry asked while Sirius still chuckled quietly.

"Yeah basically. James was very good a keeping track of things like his dad and did a lot of investments at one point, it kept Lilly happy not thinking about it, so, who cares as long as your mother was happy was the normal attitude?' Sirius shrugged.

'He'd do anything for her, he was just daft like that, even got married in pink knickers." Sirius confirmed.

"Knickers?" Harry asked cocking one eyebrow in disbelief.

"Trust me they were knickers Harry, who do you think got him dressed that morning? He was such a nervous wreck he came down to breakfast with his boxers on top of his trousers and trying to put his left shoe on his bare right foot while his other foot had his hat on it. He still had the whiskers I'd painted on his face the night before too even though he insisted he'd washed. We never did manage to get the smiley face's off his bottom, but thankfully on Lilly was going to be looking and so it didn't matter too much!"

Harry laughed along with Sirius now, the more Sirius talked about James and Lilly the more Harry came to think of his dad as a friend in such a way that had he been brought up like Ron by his own dad, he would never have experienced it in the same way. His dad didn't just sound like a dad to Harry, he sounded like a friend which was something Sirius couldn't help happening when he talked about his friend.

The two continued chatting away about allsorts of things for several hours while enjoying a few very slow games of chess. At regular intervals Sirius kept slipping in who was this girl but only once did Harry nearly slip her name out having had more butterbeers than he ever had before. Sirius was positively pouring them down Harry to loosen his tongue a bit.

It wasn't until Harry started to feel hungry again for an after noon snack did they notice Tonks never returned from talking to Lupin.

"Err, fancy going for a peak?" Sirius asked after Harry had commented on this.

"Sure!" They grabbed the cloak snuck up the stairs tiptoeing down the landing to the muffled happy voices in Lupin's room. They reached the door and could clearly hear the sound of Tonks giggling away as Lupin obviously did something inappropriate to her, but what it was they had no idea. Sirius was clearly debating weather or not to interrupt them, but Harry, thinking it really rather funny turned the handle slowly then quickly pushed Sirius in to the room with a hefty shove of his knee.

There was a loud bang and then a bump as Sirius crashed through the door and Tonks's bare back accidentally rolled off the bed to reveal Lupin with most his buttons undone on his shirt a suspected undone belt, looking slightly turned on despite the shock and pink lipstick all over his neck. On his face though was share horror and Tonks had decided to play dead behind the bed conveniently covering her topless body.

"Hay Sirius what did..?" Lupin started to explain to Sirius's equally shocked face and Harry rolling with laughter behind him satisfied that yes he did find the hole thing really rather funny.

"I was wondering about dinner?" Sirius stumbled out before Harry stuck his head around the door and grabbed Sirius back out the room giggling.

"Nice knickers Tonks!" Harry laughed as Sirius was dragged out the room and the door was now firmly slammed shut behind them.

"Harry you little devil." Sirius painfully chuckled as Harry shrieked with laughter at his face.

"You said you'd locked that door!" Tonks hissed climbing back on to the bed and trying to untangle her top from her bra.

"I did and then you came in. He never usually comes up to see me. I thought he'd be mucking around with Harry for ages." Lupin replied still in a slightly stunned silence.

"Yeah well he was barging in on you. Did you see his face?" Tonks whispered although Harry's laughter had already died down on to the floor below.

"It was hard not to miss it. He's gonna kill me!" Lupin suddenly realised doing his trousers up but Tonks suddenly caught sight of her pink lipstick all over Lupin's face and burst in to laughter as she handed him the hand mirror.

"Yeah well he told me to come up and talk to you, and he was the one who kept convincing me how nice you were." Tonks explained while Lupin hastily rubbed the lipstick off pointlessly.

"Yeah taking you out on a date is ok but stripping you off in my room is really rather different. He said if I went anywhere near you he didn't want to know about it or he'd use his lucky severing charm!" Lupin worried re-doing his shirt up again but Tonks's merely sat next to him topless having now untangled all her clothes and laid them on the end of the bed.

"It'll be ok he won't get cross. And look on the bright side, he's never going to tell Molly is he, he can't stand her."

"I suppose, I can't believe he kicked her out though.' Lupin wondered hoping that having Harry around made Sirius a hell of a lot less moody than when he gets board, even if it didn't seem to always have the maturing effect on his godfather.

'Are you going to get dressed?" He suddenly asked seeing Tonks cheeky body looking at him.

"No!"

"No?" Lupin repeated but before he had any chance to ask why she'd swung her leg back over him and pushed him back on the bed for another over excited kiss.

"I can't imagine him doing that though?" Sirius finally asked when Harry had sat him down in silence and half poured another butterbeer down his neck to try and help with the shock.

"I know the thought of Lupin at it with someone doesn't really appeal to me, but I can't say I blame him. Tonks is really fit!' Harry explained resetting the chess set and putting it back in its box while Sirius's mouth opened and closed like a gold fish. In the end Harry poured some water on a nearby cloth and slapped it around Sirius's face.

'Earth to Sirius. Are you still in there?" Harry shouted before Sirius grabbed the flannel off Harry and started whacking it back at Harry.

"Yes of course I am, what did you do that for?" Sirius barked with his peculiar laugh at Harry as he tried to cover his face.

"Couldn't find a cold wet fish!" Harry replied but the game soon turned into a full on tickle Harry fight, who squealed and giggled loudly fortunately covering the sound of Tonks's giggling up stairs.

"Oi you, don't giggle so loudly I don't want him to hear!" Lupin whispered pinning Tonks to the bed as he tickled her tummy with his tongue.

"Stop tickling me then!"

"Never! You look so cute when you giggle." Lupin whispered in Tonks ears as she started kissing his neck again and the giggling turned to a very different set of noises.

"Wait till Sirius hears how naughty you've been!"

"You wouldn't dare tell him!" Lupin suddenly stopped leaning on his elbows to look at Tonks seriously.

"That depends." Tonks explained with a cheeky grin on her face as she bit her bottom lip in such a way that Lupin had the feeling he was going to be agreeing to anything some time soon.

"On what?" He wondered turning his head slightly to smile at the lovely curve Tonks made with her hips every time she laid on her side like this.

"If you repeat earlier before dinner!" She grinned as Lupin started to grin as well showing just how young he could look when he wasn't feeling moody and wolfish.

"Hmm, ok but not a word to Sirius, he's very protective of you." Lupin replied letting his tongue ride up from her belly to linger on her breasts as Tonks shrieked as quietly as she could with delight.

"Ok I give in." Harry shouted as Sirius had finally toppled him over in the living room so he was pinned face down on the sofa.

"Ok, tell me who your girl is, I might know her mother." Sirius asked forcing Harry's arms into a little less painful position but he was still pinned.

"You might know there mother! What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked slightly naively given he knew perfectly well who her mother was.

"Well I had a look at Lupin's old registers when he first came from Hogwarts, you'd be surprised how many names I recognised once Lupin started telling me who'd got married to who while I've been away."

"So are you trying to tell me that half the kids at Hogwarts have got mothers that have been in some way meddled with by you, while you were at school?" Harry asked sarcastically given him such a look of disapproval that only Hermione could match it.

"Not half of them, there's a lot of kids in that school and I was never a very big fan of any Slytherin girl, but otherwise, something like that yeah. So who is she?" Harry merely continued to laugh at the mere thought of what Sirius was suggesting about Ginny's mother.

"Trust me you haven't been near this one's." Harry explained.

"Ah so she must have got muggle parents because like I said, I've not really done much in the muggle world until recently." Sirius explained as Harry continued to laugh at how far from reality Sirius's guesses were.

"You think that if you want to." Harry tried to shrug but found it a little difficult with the way his arms were pinned behind his back.

"Ok, so then give me a hint, because if it's Hermione then you're very good at lying Harry."

"Not that good, I'll never be in Snape's league." Harry quickly replied with a little sigh.

"Harry I would never suggest you were anything like the shit-head Snivillus, you can trust me on that. So who is she or do I have yank your trousers down and slap you on the arse like I did to James on many an occasion when he called me a narcissist!'

Sirius asked still laughing as a joke, he hadn't even moved or attempted to but at the mention of it Harry twisted free, kicked Sirius hard on the nose and rolled off the sofa with a thump as he hit the floor head first.

Harry wished he hadn't done it as soon as he saw Sirius's slightly bloody face but he'd been caught off guard and done it instinctively without even thinking. At first Sirius looked at Harry and was angry because of the pain he was in but then he quickly twigged and was ashamed of himself for being so insensitive.

'I'm so sorry Harry. I should have been more sensitive." Sirius explained quickly, Harry believed him instantly and was sorry for kicking him in the face, well aware he might of broken Sirius's nose but he couldn't help it. Sometimes he just got a bit nervous and things got the better of him.

"Sorry, you caught me off guard. I didn't mean too.' Harry replied quickly taking a few deep breaths as he moved closer to Sirius to look at his nose.

'Is that ok?" He wondered holding his hand out slightly to trace the air around it with his finger.

"Err, it doesn't matter Harry, Lupin will fix it for me. Well, at least I know you can easily break people's nose's Harry." Sirius tried to laugh it off but his mouth filled with blood and Harry made him sit down.

"You sure that's going to be ok, you look a bit of a mess Sirius?" Harry asked seeing just how much of a mess he'd made of Sirius's face with all the blood pouring out his nose and mouth and really whished he could say sorry better or at least fix it for him.

"Yeah Lupin's good at mending bones, he's had a lot of practice. He would have made a brilliant healer, you know, like his father. If he wasn't ya' know, wolfing out every month that is." Sirius explained a little disjointed and trying to change the subject a bit or lighten the mood again.

"I guess very few people would want a werewolf looking after them. But then, you can hardly be picky these days can you!" Harry smiled sitting down next to Sirius and handing him the wet flannel they'd been hitting each other with earlier.

"Oi, I was never picky and don't rub it in." Sirius replied with a sigh as he struggled to contain just how much this hurt him from Harry. The last thing he wanted to do was to worry Harry with a bit of pain, his shy little godson was as white as a sheet already and didn't seem to be getting much colour back yet. If anything the sight of all this blood on Sirius's face seemed to be making him feel a little more off than usual.

"Sorry Sirius, I gather you were never fussy about most things." Harry gently laughed still finding it funny Sirius being referred to as a narcissist seeing the now bloody stained scraggy man sat next to him, with nearly all his youthful looks gone out his rugged face.

Harry had started to notice a boyish look around his eyes but that might be the fact that his face now had proper colour and he was eating proper meals everyday with Lupin. It's amazing what a bit of food could do for someone's health.

"I really am sorry about that, seems I've gained my big foot again and it can get itself in everything." Sirius explained behaving more like the old Sirius he was.

"It's ok, it was just a joke. Did you really slap him on the arse regularly?" Harry asked hoping some funny tale about his dad would cover the slight uncomfortable-ness around them at the moment and make his heart stop pounding so hard.

"Yeah well, he had a habit of waking me up at the crack of dawn with a chicken called Fred." Sirius explained shoving his brain in to story mode about James.

"Fred?" Harry wondered.

"Yeah, well your dad had a pet owl that was really, really weird and I turned into a chicken and well, it seemed much happier as a chicken so he kept it as one. We called him Fred, he lived in our dorm, Remus used to feed him tip bits all the time. I'm not quiet sure what happened to him in the end but I'm a little suspicious he never came back after Remus took him home once."

"Who was the fifth lad in your dorm?" Harry asked wondering how they could have always been four friends and never five or even get away with half the stuff they did while someone else was around to grass them up.

"There was only the four of us. Hogwarts was only just beginning to have five in each dorm after us. What with the way things were then a lot of kids ended up being born around your time and just after? Now five is normal even six some times isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"Well yeah." Harry wondered sure this was so obvious he must have missed it.

"Well there was a huge baby boom for some reason around you, I think it was because so many people rushed to get married then, what with so many people disappearing and stuff." Sirius explained a little carefully.

"I guess, I just wondered, I mean, you were hardly model students. I was surprised nobody noticed you missing at a full moon and stuff." Harry wondered noticing the blood pouring more fluently out of Sirius's nose and down onto his shirt.

"Well it's really lucky we wern't missed most the time." But Sirius had to stop talking as his mouth began filling with blood again from his nose.

"Can't you fix that yourself?" Harry asked carefully moping up some of the blood with Sirius's sleeve for him.

"No, I'm afraid not, it's hard to fix your own bones. But you might want to go and move Lupin along a bit, this is really starting to sting!" Sirius explained swapping the cloth for a fresh one and moving his head forward a bit to stop the blood from running in to his mouth so much.

"Sure." Harry got up and left the room hoping that by now Lupin was finished and he didn't have to barge in again. Fortunately when he reached the corner just before turning on to the landing he could here Lupin and Tonks laughing on the hall way and deliberately made his steps louder to give them some warning. It was only just enough but still, at least Tonks had her clothes on this time.

"Harry err, what do you, err?" Lupin suddenly asked as Tonks stepped away from him a bit suspiciously.

"I err, broke Sirius's nose can you come and fix it for him?" Harry explained quickly, deliberately not looking directly at Lupin's face.

"Sure.' Lupin replied just as quickly then started to head back down stairs with Harry as Tonks was left to follow and watch Lupin walking from behind.

'How did you break his nose?" Lupin asked carefully surprised to see Harry looked so slightly flustered and still a little pale.

"Err, it was an accident, but he's pouring a lot of blood out and making a mess of his face that's all." Harry explained not wanting to say he booted him in the face for no good reason.

"Oh, where is he?" Lupin replied calmly sure there must be more to it than what Harry was currently letting on.

"Living room." Harry replied then let Lupin take the lead to chuckle gently at Sirius's bloody face and shirt when he saw him trying to hold his nose together with a cloth.

"So what did you do this time Sirius? Run head long into a window again?" Lupin asked but noticing the odd look on Sirius's face before he replied as though he was merely drinking tea in the living room on a sunny afternoon.

"Something like that? Can you just patch me up so I can change me shirt?" He replied lowering the bloody cloth and showing just what a mess Harry had made of his face. After one quick look, Harry looked away as Tonks looked on quietly now not quiet so totally infatuated with Lupin but at least something else was taking the lime light other than the little run in the four had had before where she definitely had the least amount of clothes on.

"There, but I'm afraid I can't do anything about that ugly face of yours, it looks just as bad as it ever did!" Lupin finished tapping Sirius's face and standing up properly again.

"Oi, I'm not ugly. Just a little rugged around the edges that's all. Now you want any dinner or what?" He asked firmly as he turned his eyes to eye Tonks fully dressed and standing in the background next to Harry who still looked slightly odd and worried.

"Sure I'm kind of hungry now." He shrugged making Harry smerk slightly when he saw Tonks roll her eyes behind him.

"I bet you are. Well kitchen's through there, I'm an invalid." Sirius replied lounging back on his seat and showing his cocky face as he wiped blood from his now fixed nose.

"Yeah ok, then you won't mind having chicken soup while the rest of us have steak and chips." Lupin replied knowing full well Sirius's loved steak and all the trimmings.

"Fine, you make some pudding then. What would you like Harry?" Sirius asked standing up and turning back to Harry.

"Don't mind but cookie dough fudge ice cream was a bit sickly last time, best not have it again or I'll be ill tomorrow." Harry explained then followed Tonks into the dinning room to start laying the table while the other two retreated into the kitchen through the side door and Lupin started a quiet conversation.

"I know that look, what happened to your nose?" Lupin quickly asked the minuet Harry was out the way.

"I said something as a joke and it was really rather insensitive, so he, he sort of booted me in the face to wiggle away from me!"

"He booted you in the face?" Lupin asked not giving in to Sirius's lazy manner when it was clear something serious had happened.

"Well I really deserved it, I'd pinned him down to tease him about this girl and well, I shouldn't have made the joke it was really upsetting for him and he just jumped out his skin that was all. You didn't see his face though, he was so frightened of me again. I hate it when he looks at me like that, he doesn't know he's doing it but it feels like he's frightened of me or something. I don't want him to be frightened of me; I'm not going to hurt him. He should know that!" Sirius explained cross at himself for being so useless around Harry's feelings.

"Oh you and that bloody foot Sirius! Do you think he's ok now?" Lupin snapped back at him, well aware of just how insensitive Sirius could get when he was behaving like a little idiotic schoolboy again.

"Yeah I think so, but I doubt he'll sleep too well tonight because of it, I think he never does."

"We'll just have to keep him up late, so when he gets to bed he's too tired for anything else." Lupin explained and started fixing dinner a bit more responsibly having let the potatoes wiz out of their skins quickly when he wasn't concentrating.

"I shouldn't have said it. I just forgot how sensitive he was about that sort of thing." Sirius replied quietly terribly ashamed of his comment now.

"I know you never told me what he's so touchy about and I can only guess, but look he's laughing away with Tonks now about god knows what." Lupin gestured to the half opened door where they could clearly see a Tonks and Harry roaring with laughter hardly able to stand up properly over something.

"I suppose, he's always better around girls these days. And it's probably you there laughing at!" Sirius replied pleased, as Lupin pointed out, to see Harry looking perfectly fine again.

"Oi, what are they going to laugh about me for?" Lupin half cried a little outraged. But Sirius merely continued in his amusing wind up.

"Well I bet you haven't had much of a lover since I went away."

"That's not true, I dated, sort of!" Lupin answered hotly but it was clear he hadn't really had much of a girlfriend, which was why he found Tonks such hard work, however much he enjoyed it when he thought he'd got it right.

"Yeah, bet you were a right animal, weird sexual relations all over the place. Swinging from the chandeliers and all sorts." Sirius mocked casually.

"Would you really want someone with your reputation dating her, she would never be off her back for gods sake!"

"Oi you, I'll have less of that! Just keep your grubby hands off her whenever I'm around and we'll be perfectly fine!" Sirius replied whacking Lupin around the head with a carrot so it snapped in two.

"Yeah well, I'm hardly going to seduce her in half an hour am I? What were you doing coming in like that? You don't normally wonder about like that and it was really embarrassing. For Tonks!"

"Tonks was well out of my eye shot hiding like that and I bet it wasn't because of her messy hair too. Just keep it away from me that's all, besides, your totally clumsy with women, it'll take you months maybe even years to work up to anything that involves her laying on her back with her knickers off!'

Sirius comforted himself and carried the vegetables through to the table while Lupin finished flicking his wand over the steak and gravy and hoped more than anything that Sirius couldn't see his smug look.

'What are you two laughing about?" Sirius asked striding into the room.

"Him!" Harry and Tonks laughed in unison.

"Oh well, he is rather amusing. Anything in particular?" Sirius asked trying to sound like his lazy self again. At this though Harry and Tonks burst out into yet another round of giggles as Sirius decided neither of them could be trusted with the cutlery.

"You're dreadful sometimes Harry. How can you say something like that?" Tonks finally forced out.

"What do you expect, I'm a randy teenager I can spot a topless women at fifty paces!" Harry replied going slightly pink in the cheeks while his sides hurt from laughing.

"Yeah I bet you can!" Sirius smiled then headed back to help Lupin.

"So you and her are really got something going then?" Tonks whispered as soon as Sirius was though the door, she knew something was going on between them but she had never had Harry's side to the story and it was only now she realised it was actually something rather serious and important to them both and not just a quick fumble at every available opportunity, on some occasions they did just sit and talk fully dressed.

"Yeah but don't tell anybody, you're the only one that's guessed properly and besides, I know how much she likes talking to you." Harry whispered back in Tonks's ear too aware he could smell Lupin all over her for some reason. He seemed to have managed to get his sent into every crevice of her skin, making Harry have to try really hard not to have mental images of how he might have done that.

"Arr, that's so cute!" She sighed mockingly.

"Oi!" Harry snapped back annoyed by her patronising tone.

"Yeah well I knew she liked you, we had plenty of little chats over the summer about your ever so lovely arse. She got so worried about you when you weren't well and I heard all about you secretly on the way to the station back in September, commenting on her bed-wear and anything. See I know these things about you Harry Potter."

"You did?" Harry asked unsure as to how much Tonks knew about his some what secret dealing with his friends little sister.

"Err yeah, I sort of guessed, you kept looking at her with a weird look and well, we have our little girls together-against-Mrs-Waesley's-interference pact going." Tonks explained sitting down with Harry at the end of the table.

"You do?" He wondered sure he would have noticed more if he wasn't so bloody infatuated with Ginny when ever she was around.

"Yeah well, I needed a girly friend and she's really finding it hard not having some older girl to talk to, other than Hermione that is, so we kind of ganged together."

"Why not Hermione too?" Harry asked totally oblivious to the way girls worked.

"Because girls do everything in two's and Hermione's too friendly with you and Ron, it would be inappropriate for OUR sort of conversations." Tonks explained as Sirius came through with another large plate of food.

Tonks sat down now and leaned back on her chair in the same way Sirius often did and tapped the old wireless on the side board with her slender wand. It seemed to tune itself in a bit and then with a second tap started to play some unmistakably modern muggle music. Harry had never really got into music himself, but he had filtered through Dudley's collection often enough to know basically what was around over the summer. Tonks it seems was an avid follower of both muggle and magical music mixing the two as and when she felt like it.

"What is that noise?" Sirius asked honestly a little annoyed by it and sitting down with Lupin both totally unsure by what this weird racket was.

"That's off Shrek isn't it?" Harry asked nodding his head lazily along to the music like Tonks but not so obviously.

"You've seen Shrek?" Tonks suddenly asked.

"No, afraid not, it's just one of Dudley's DVD collection, I heard it's supposed to be really good." Harry explained but neither Lupin nor Sirius had any idea what a Shrek was never mind a DVD.

"Oh, you've gotta watch it Harry it's my favourite film!" Tonks squeaked as Sirius started severing out food.

"Oh you're talking about a film!" Lupin suddenly twigging and whispered something quickly to Sirius across the table.

"This is Counting Crows. They're really sweet, nearly as good as the weird sisters and Robbie Williams."

"You're a Robbie Williams fan?" Harry asked having only ever heard a few of his songs played in shops and smiling at her in somewhat disbelief.

"Yeah, he's got a really sexy arse.' At this Lupin's ear's noticeably pricked up to the conversation.

'I mean how many singers do you know look that good and can actually sing and write music too?" She explained aware that talking about some other man's arse wasn't the best idea she'd come up with in front of Sirius and Lupin but it wasn't going to stop her now she'd started.

"I must say very few. But having said that, Dud is a Rachel Stevens fan and not really for her songs either."

"Yeah I gather that. Wasn't she voted most sexiest female recently by someone?" Tonks asked receiving a plate from Lupin as Sirius's ears suddenly pricked up to pay attention too.

"Yeah but I still prefer Holly Valance most the time, if given the choice."

"Why? Wasn't she in Neighbors?"

"Yeah along with Delta Goodrem I think, my aunt likes to watch it.' At this he merely shrugged as Tonks seemed a little curious as why he would know so much about ex-neighbors stars and yet having never seen Shrek but he continued happily enough.

'I would have thought you were a pink fan anyway?" Harry asked noticing the pink hair on top of Tonks today.

"Yeah I did but then she went blonde and it just didn't seem right. Blonde doesn't suit me too well!" Tonks replied then noticed both Sirius and Lupin were looking rather annoyed at how they had no idea what was going off and couldn't join in the conversation.

"Don't worry Lupin, Tonks isn't going to run off with a sexiest female winner what ever colour her hair is." Harry explained then started tucking into his food as Tonks chuckled heavily at Lupin's totally blank face and Sirius was just a bit balled over by Harry's sudden very different style of comments.

"What's a Shrek?" Sirius suddenly asked sure if he didn't ask now he'd look a bigger idiot asking later.

"Well it's the name of an ugly green ogre that falls in love with a lovely princess. And if you three are good little boys I will bring my DVD's and player over tomorrow to let you watch it, seen as none of you are going out any time soon to the cinema." Tonks explained but Harry suddenly wondered what he considered a rather practical question for him.

"How would you plug it in, Sirius doesn't have any sockets?" Harry asked in all innocence, sure he'd never seen anything plugged in, in any wizarding house.

"What's a socket?" Sirius asked suddenly a little hurt he hadn't managed to do everything Harry might have wanted. Lupin guessed what he was thinking and decided his friend had reached a new level of sad pathetic-ness recently when it came to Harry that should have made him seem sweet but sadly, it didn't.

"Oh that's ok, I've got a magical adapter you just charge it up with your wand and you can plug things in with it. Loads of girls have them." Tonks explained and now Lupin sort of knew what she was on about even if things were still flying left, right and center over Sirius's head.

"You mean I have to wait ages with a towel to get my hair dry and girls get to use magically powered hair dryers?" Harry asked suddenly really rather annoyed, having recently out of neglect let his hair grow quiet long around his face. Although he was hoping for a little trim to put it back in to some sort of style soon, but just wasn't sure who to ask. Hermione just wasn't that trusting when it came to scissors and well, Ron was far worse and although having had Mrs Weasley offer Harry had no intention of taking her up on it.

"Yeah pretty much Harry! Bet that must be annoying, didn't you ever think to borrow Hermione's?" Tonks asked a little smugly.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be made to look a total prat asking to borrow a girls hairdryer now would I?" Harry asked sarcastically rolling his eyes as Sirius smirked knowing full well what a hairdryer was now Lupin had explained.

"Don't you just use a heating charm?" Lupin asked thinking it totally obvious how one might dry there hair quicker than with a towel.

"No, no-one in our dorm does, ever since Ron set his hair on fire and tried to put it out with his sheets only to set them on fire as well till Dean put it out with Nev's jacket."

Harry explained while Lupin smirked at what he imagined the boys would be like in such a situation, having made a point to notice anybody closely around Harry while he was teaching. This however lead on to a similar situation that had cropped up during his own school years but as it involved Peter mainly the memory was now rather tainted and he had no desire to recall it ever again.

"Oh I see." Tonks replied understanding fully now why Harry would refrain from such a thing, having done a similar thing herself and ended up in a whole load of trouble on more than one occasion.

"Have you got any other decent films?" Harry asked taking a sip of his butterbeer, he was a little surprised Sirius was letting him have it yet again after going so pink in the face last time but he wasn't going to complain.

"I'm waiting to get Shrek two at the minuet, but yeah I've got loads of them. Did you ever see Bridget Jones?" Tonks asked but Harry became quiet suddenly aware he hadn't seen a full length film since he ended up accidentally on a school trip to see the Lion King it was something he had always known but he didn't want Sirius to know as well.

"No not really but Hermione recons it's really funny. She also said if ever I get the chance I should watch erm, some of the Monty Python films and Evolution." Harry added trying to remember everything he'd heard about films to make himself seem a little less of a dork.

Conversations like this were usually ok when he was talking to wizards because they expected him not to know being a muggle boy from home. And when he was talking to almost all muggle background students, they assumed he spent more time in the wizarding world and wouldn't be up to date. But with someone like Tonks who was nicely wedged between the two with a sledge hammer, things only served to show him up and he didn't like it.

"Oh yeah the Life of Brain is really funny but you have to know the Bible stories to get the best jokes. I always wanted to see the rest. Evolution is really funny I must admit, specially the way the idiots save the day and all." Tonks explained looking at Sirius.

"I'm cultured, I know about the muggle Bible. Unfortunately I had it drummed in to me when I was kid. My lovely mother made me and my twat of a brother read most the thing to understand quiet fully how low muggles were supposed to be." Sirius explained a little too sarcastically to be healthy.

"Did it go in one ear and out the other?" Harry asked carefully.

"Most things do with Sirius!" Tonks whispered loudly and started sniggering with Harry at his godfather's slightly cross face.

"Sirius is cultured with a capital K!" Lupin added quickly just to get in on it a bit. This comment however took far to long to sink in to Sirius and by the time it did the other three were already giggling far too much to bare.

"Yeah well, a lot of things my mother said tended to go in one ear and out the other but some of the stories were interesting. What are these Monty things anyway?" Sirius asked curious to know more about what even Harry had missed out in the muggle world.

"Their like a satire group, very funny, but in a really rather offensive way sometimes, well most the time but they seem to get away with it." Tonks explained.

"Aren't they the people who half way though a show stood up and said could the audience please bare with them a little longer as they intended to insult every different nation equally?" Harry asked remembering something he'd heard on the telly some years ago now.

"Yeah that's them.' Tonks laughed giving in now at trying to explain things for Sirius.

'I bet you'd really like them particularly the Life of Brian, it's sort of you, in some ways, from what I've heard. Hermione told me how you and Ron managed to get a load of house points in your first year for sheer dumb luck." Tonks laughed.

"Yeah that happened a lot but when I got in to second year McGonagall had to start coming up with better, reasons, although last year I got fifty points in Herbology once for passing a watering can over." Harry explained but Lupin had the sneaky feeling he knew what Sirius's clogging brain was doing and whispered quietly while Tonks and Harry were engaged in eating.

"I smell another shopping trip coming along!"

"Read my mind Remus?" Sirius whispered back, pleased Harry was tucking in to his steak and his healthy vegetables equally Sirius was proud of himself for remembering Harry needed to eat his vegetables.

"Careful you don't spoil him!" Lupin warned but he knew it was unlikely, Harry would be going back to Hogwarts in no time. And Sirius wouldn't have enough time to spoil him enough, never mind too much.

"I made him do his homework first thing this morning before we started playing chess." Sirius replied firmly having decided that he should really show some sort of responsibly around Harry and that McGonagall might approve of him more if it was homework centered, even if it wasn't in any other aspect of his life.

"You said that so you could have a lie in while he worked." Lupin hissed back before going back to his own dinner.

"So, he did his homework and I didn't have to sit around waiting for him to finish. Any way it's not as if he gets spoiled very often, he still thinks it's a novelty." Sirius added firmly reassuring himself.

"Did you ever come across play stations and x-boxes?" Harry asked, Tonks was just pleased that for once she have someone who really understood muggles and wasn't Hermione. Although enthusiastic, Arthur just wasn't the same as a natural muggle.

"Yeah I had a play station one for a while, but I got too addicted to it most nights and kept being late for work so I had to get rid of it. Unfortunately mum wouldn't let dad keep it so it got left in me old room and I haven't really seen it since." Tonks explained while Lupin and Sirius had to go back to listening, although Sirius vaguely remembered Harry mentioning a play station or something once in his letter.

"What games did you play?" Harry asked but only recognised a few of the games she mentioned.

"Grand Theft Auto, Simpson's Hit and Run, some Star Warms thing, err, Simms magic maker was fun but what really did it was worms." She laughed.

"Did you ever play Buffy or the cheep werewolf rip-off Muffy?" Harry asked knowing full well he'd really caught Lupin's attention now but not too concerned by it.

"I'm not sure Lupin would like the concept of that game but yeah I had a few demo's of it." Tonks replied maturely.

"Oh I don't know, Lupin might like the idea of being chased around by a fit semi-naked blonde all night? I would, it sounds like fun!" Harry explained as Tonks burst out laughing again and Lupin obviously knew there was a joke here but didn't really get it.

"Yeah I suppose he would but is it like a game or something?" Sirius asked pleased to see Lupin blushing.

"Yeah not very realistic though. But in the end the werewolf is supposed to get the sexy girl that's been chasing him but I prefer the alternative ending." Tonks explained.

"What the one where you get to rip his clothes off when he changes back? That never really appealed to me much, I never reached the last level always died on the swimming through the river bit. I always go for the birthday cake anyway you see coz it's funnier." Harry explained and now Lupin was so successfully confused that he couldn't become offended he was sure.

"Let me get this right, muggles have a game where you get to pretend a sexy half-naked women, chasing around a rampaging werewolf, through all these weird sorts of bits and then at the end you can either rip his clothes off or he gets the girl and eats a birthday cake for pudding." Sirius asked sure they wouldn't be talking about something so easily if Lupin would be offended by it.

"Yeah but the game cuts off before you get to do anything really interesting, he just sort of carriers her into the house. But to be honest it's a totally crap game, I just find it funny to see how muggles view things that wizards are so uptight about." Tonks explained honestly squeezing Lupin's inside leg tightly under the table while Sirius ate his dinner. Although rather bamboozled by the conversation, Lupin was sure he wasn't supposed to be offended by it and was just in very great danger of getting turned on.

"It's not so much a rampaging werewolf. I can't really imagine any one stopping to climb up trees for little pink coins or spending ages riding a motorcycle around a track to get a better score to be perfectly honest." Harry explained finishing his vegetables off and moving on to his chips.

"No, I heard you don't like heights Lupin." Tonks asked having heard a rather funny story from Sirius about how Lupin had been too scared to lean out the Gryffindor tower window and grab something.

"Where have you heard that from, no I'm not a fan of heights and nor would I never get on the back of Sirius's motorbike for that matter?" Lupin explained still a little confused but glad to see Tonks' little cheeky grin looking up at him, it was worth a bit of confusion any day.

"Oh I, you never would, would you? Said it was a death trap!" Sirius remembered.

"The bike was fine it was your driving that was the problem. You never really bothered with red lights or stop signs said it was fast enough to jump through." Lupin replied.

"It was!" Sirius added hotly always immensely pissed off he had to give it up, but at the time he was determined to see Harry safely taken to Dumbledore if he had to go and would have given anything up to make sure he got there ok.

"Yeah and you wondered why Lilly banned James from being on it about thirty seconds after she saw you driving down the road on it." Lupin rolled his eyes as Sirius still couldn't see how his driving could possibly be dangerous and naively neither could Harry.

"Well if you pasted your test then you can't be that bad?" Harry explained always remembering the weird dream he had as a kid about flying motorcycles.

"What test?" Sirius asked honestly and Tonks rolled her eyes looking rather like her mother as she did.

"Err, your driving test Sirius, everyone's supposed to have one if they want to drive a car or a motorbike on the road, don't you?" Harry asked surprised Sirius would be so daft not to at least know he needed one.

"Oh well no, I never took a test or anything why, are you supposed to have a license or something just to drive?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Remind me never to get lift of you then!" Harry explained with a bit of a breathless air in a somewhat Hermione like fashion.

"Of course you need a license, it's to stop idiots like you from driving on the roads willy nilly." Tonks explained shocked his cousin could be so daft, but then given past experiences, it was hardly that surprising.

"Well I didn't have the bike very long, I gave it to Hagrid." Sirius continued in an attempt to look slightly less like an idiot but it didn't seem to work very well with his not so innocent face.

"I know, I remember riding on it. Well sort of." Harry explained honestly but Sirius looked at him with a curious and very serious eye.

"That's not possible. You were just a baby in arms then!" Sirius wondered seriously, if Harry could remember that, then he may remember too much.

Sirius was always curious by how much Harry could remember about that night but was always too frightened to ask, he could barely cope with Lupin's explanation of what it was like teaching Harry how to cope with dementor's. Lupin's face had said it all, Harry could at least remember there voices and screams, even if he didn't seem to mention much of a visual description but that didn't necessarily mean there wasn't one.

"I still remember it, bit weird really. I always remember being on a motorcycle, I just thought it was a dream until I heard Hagrid talking about you in the pub once with McGonagall and well, it sort of confirmed it all." Harry explained with half a shrug, sure it would be best to keep the rest of the content of that conversation about Sirius quiet from him, now they were all on the same side.

"You can remember things from way back then?" Sirius asked still a little shocked by what he was hearing. He'd assumed Harry's memories were all because of the Dementor's but the motorbike dreams were clearly something from before Harry's encounter with them.

"Wish I couldn't, but I sort of hang on to it. I always remembered my mothers face even if I couldn't ever describe it to people and well, it was only when I came to Hogwarts did I ever know for sure when I saw her in that mirror. She looked so pretty in just normal every day clothes with all that red hair." Harry explained calmly with a very weak smile to try and keep Sirius calm, but he had an uncomfortable look and Harry wasn't entirely sure why, the thought of his mother smiling at him always seemed to calm him down, why not Sirius as well?

"I can't remember anything that far back about mine." Sirius added quietly.

"You don't have a mother like mine and besides, would you of really hung on to it like I did if you could?" Harry shrugged knowing Sirius was rather bitter towards his mother but wondered if he'd ever been fond of her.

"Well no, I was always trying to get away from her, ever since I could crawl. But I suppose you would want to hang on to your memory of Lilly." Sirius finally finished some how pleased Harry was able to remember her face for himself at least and not feel so sad that his friends were dead.

"Yeah well she's special to me, that's why I hate the way Mrs Weasley tries to mother me all the time." Harry explained more for Tonks and Lupin's benefit. Part of him really hoped that one of them would have the tack to explain this to Ron's mother and get her to be more sensitive towards him but he wasn't about to hold his breath for it.

They finished dinner and continued on to pudding and hot drinks while Tonks and Harry tried to explain about DVD's, play station games and muggle music to the other two men that were beginning to feel there older age. Although they both tried hard to grasp the concept of telly neither really understood until Tonks finally decided the best way would be to bring her stuff over and show them tomorrow before work.

Later while Lupin was resting quietly trying not to fall asleep in his chair and Harry had absorbed himself in the latest broacher by Fred and George, Sirius took Tonks aside for another little chat.

"Why won't you just bring the rest of your stuff? It's nearer to work than your current grotty flat." Sirius asked gently patting her back repeatedly in the hopes it would help his case.

"My flat isn't grotty!" Tonks replied rather hotly shrugging Sirius off.

"Come on, it's a dump and if you do move in, then I will do your cleaning again. Remember how nice it was having you around for a bit?" Sirius added with a hopeful puppy face that had long since stopped working but did make him seem more pitiful.

"That does sound good but I work for the ministry they need a proper address for my pay and stuff and it can't be here can it?"

"Say you've moved back home and use your mums as like a base and spend more time here. Besides, I will even do your washing for you. But you can wash your own knickers I don't want to guess where they've been." Sirius added quite firmly.

"Yeah but what about Remus, don't you think it'll be too weird like last time. And you don't want to know about us, it's not as if I can send you out to the pub can I?" Tonks explained.

"Trust me it won't be odd and besides, Lupin's getting better these days, he's not quiet so weird and nitwitty, plus I want the company. You might have to pick up a few extra hours or something around the full moon though, until he gets used to the idea of you around. He doesn't like the idea of Harry being here and is really annoyed Christmas falls on a full moon and that Harry might want to come back then." Sirius kept explaining not giving Tonks a chance to turn him down.

"I suppose, you do seem a lot better with company and mum does want to see more of me. She's worried my jobs too dangerous, so it would keep her quiet." Tonks pondered thoughtfully.

"See I'd do owt to keep your mother happy!" Sirius grinned knowing by now he must have won.

"Yeah and well, it is closer to work, your right and I really hate cleaning and my flat is getting really quiet mangy so ok. But only as a trial for now, just for a month, I don't want to have to quickly find another flat because I can't bare to be around Remus again."

"Yippie!" Sirius grinned and hugged her tightly.

"But only while the last of my rent wears off and then we'll see. If it gets uncomfortable then I'm moving back into the grotty flat. And you have to do my washing and I want a nice room cleaning for me, just like Harry's got but not next to Lupin's that would be too weird."

Tonks explained trying to be firm but knowing full well once she'd given into Sirius she wasn't going to get away from it too easily.

"I promise and I've been wondering about moving most the better living room stuff upstairs." He explained and went to sit with Harry who was now finished with his broacher and wondering what else to do. Tonks came and sat down too on the spare chair and wondered what Sirius had meant.

"You seen anything decent in that?" Sirius asked as Harry pasted him the shockingly purple booklet.

"Erm yeah, they're trying to do pygmy puffs for lads now." Harry replied then seeing Sirius's triumphant look wondered what was making him suddenly so pleased as he looked up at Tonks who explained.

"It seems I'm sort of moving in for a bit. And I bet you want me to bring my toys don't ya?"

"Course." Harry replied also pleased that Sirius was going to have some regular fun company seeing Lupin gently sleeping in the corner. Harry had nothing against Lupin, he was a very kind and pleasant man but what with Sirius and Lupin occasionally in various states of moods he was quiet sure this house could get very depressing and quiet, and hoped that Tonks could liven it up a bit when Harry couldn't.

"Yeah well, he twisted my arm. Anyway what's this about moving the sitting room upstairs?" Tonks asked.

"It's just such a long way up to bed when I've been sat down here that's all. There's another set of living rooms upstairs even a small kitchen, I was just wondering if I could shove it all on one floor that's all, save me legs. And the rooms are much cosier up there, not like these stupid formal things."

Sirius explained and despite thinking Sirius was probably just looking for something to do the moment Harry was back at school, he had to agree. If Sirius could do what he managed in Harry's room why not make a more convenient living space upstairs for himself, this room was a horrid large annoying room and Harry honestly didn't like it he just didn't want to say so.

"I guess it would be better, I mean, it's very dark on them stairs at night and really cold, it would be nice to have a happier place to sit in for a change." Tonks wondered.

"I'm not sure I would ever call this house happier but you gotta admit, this room is dank and depressing and far too big." Harry added helpfully.

"Yeah I guess, now wake Lupin up and send him to bed, the poor things worn out again and you can come and show me which room is going to be mine and I will tell you what colour to paint it." Tonks smirked standing up with her slightly arrogant manner that Sirius was often seen with, although he didn't look half as cute Harry suddenly decided before giving himself a mental slap.

Sirius got up also now and gently woke Lupin up and told him they were all going to bed and that he should probably go to bed too if he was this sleepy. All he did was mumble something about not being a grouch and slowly moved along after them all to bed.