Sirius leaned over Harry and brushed his hair back they way he would to a child. "Hey ya, Harry." He whispered. "I'm here. I came back to take care of you. I'm sorry I was away for so long, but you got to pull yourself out of this. We've got a lot to talk about. Starting with," he cast a sidelong glance at Hermione who was bending over Ginny with Katie. "the little minx your friend Hermione has become. She's something else, a real knock out. And I want to hear all about your quest against Voldemort. And all our friends. And what you had for breakfast last week." Sirius choked up. "Harry please wake up, I need you."

OOooOO
Sirius stayed with Harry well into the night chatting away at him as if they were having a two-sided in depth conversation. Around midnight the front door slammed open and Sirius drew his wand instinctively. A man in a long cloak entered the sitting room and immediately put up his hands.

"Identify yourself!" Sirius bellowed.

The intruder peered at Sirius silently for a moment before dropping his hands, a grin spreading across his face. "Well I'll be a bloody monkey's uncle! It's God Damn Sirius Black!"

Sirius peered at the stranger and lowered his wand slowly. Hermione came up out of nowhere from behind the stranger and tackled him in a giant hug.

"Neville!" she cried holding fast to his neck.

"My 'Mione! How is one of the most beautiful women in the world?" he laughed swinging her around.

"Wonderful, now that you're here!" she cried, kissing him full on the lips.

Sirius felt a twinge of jealousy, but he shook it off immediately and scolded himself for it.

"Hi, Neville." Sirius offered.

Neville set Hermione down, who was beaming at him, strode across the room and took Sirius' hand, shaking it heartily. "How the hell are ya, old man?" Neville boomed, clapping Sirius on the back.

Sirius flinched at being called old, but he forced a smile and clapped Neville back in greeting. "Alright, boy. Yourself?"

"Never been better! Bellatrix is dead, all is right in the world. Or what's left of it!" he laughed easily, dropping his traveling cloak to the ground.

"You killed Bella?" Hermione squealed behind him.

Neville turned to her and grinned. "Sure did! Avada'ed her wicked ass!"

Sirius smiled. "Bet that has something to do with how I got back here."

"I betcha!" Neville laughed, and fell to his knees at Harry's bedside. "Did ya hear that, Harry? Bella's dead and gone! Took care of her for you. Now you just gotta wake up so we can get good and drunk to celebrate."

OOooOO

Sirius fell into a monotonous routine in the following weeks at Grimmauld. He spent his days helping Hermione, Katie, and Luna with the injured, his evenings doing search and rescue in what was left of London with Neville, and his nights split between sitting with Harry or dozing in his room down the hall. Hermione had offered to give him back his old room, but he'd refused, opting instead for a smaller guestroom down the hall from Harry. Katie and Hermione constantly fussed over him, insisting that he never had neither enough food nor sleep. Luna just watched him dreamily, offering a lazy apologetic smile whenever Katie and Hermione were busy nagging over him. Neville was always animated and kind, helping wherever he was needed without hesitation. One night, when Katie was riding Sirius particularly hard about not getting enough sleep, Neville stepped in.

"Katie," Neville boomed with laughter and took her arm. "There's a phrase that says 'there'll be plenty of time to sleep when you die.' Sirius has had ten years of rest, lay off him, he'll sleep when he's tired."

"But," Katie began to protest though Neville had led her to the sitting room doorway already.

"No buts, Kate, you go to bed. You look like hell. Go on, get! Sirius and I can handle things." He gave her a swift slap to her arse, and with a sigh, Katie disappeared up the stairs.

Neville laughed and turned to face Sirius. He conjured a bottle of fire whiskey and two glasses. He poured himself a tall glass then handed a glass and the bottle to Sirius.

"You slapped her rump!" Sirius laughed pouring himself a drink.

Neville shrugged. "She's my girl. Therefore in theory that's my rump."

Sirius nodded appreciatively. "Nice choice."

Neville smirked, took the bottle from Sirius and poured himself another glass of fire whiskey. Sirius followed suit. Their drinking continued into the night. By the time Hermione came down to the kitchen for a drink around four in the morning the two boys had gone through nearly five bottles of whiskey and were singing loudly, slumped over the table. They saw Hermione and broke into a round of raucous laughter. Hermione paused, observing the empty bottles of whiskey, folded her arms across her chest, and rolled her eyes. After enduring their cat calls for a few minutes while she scowled at them, she got her glass of water, turned on her heel, and stormed back up the stairs. She returned momentarily by a bleary eyed Katie.

"Ut-oh." Neville said quickly and Sirius laughed.

The veil left Katie's eyes quickly, being replaced by angry recognition. She folded her arms in a Hermione like stance. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Neville paused in mock thought, then answered. "Getting drunk."

"Well," Katie snapped. "You've already done a fine job of that I'd say."

Neville nodded with a grin. "Indeed, Sirius dear friend, I dare say that we are a complete success."

Sirius nodded.

"What were you thinking?" Katie cried suddenly. "Letting yourselves get drunk and lose your wits. What if we were attacked?"

"Katie," Neville began, rising rather sloppily. "The war is over."

"Have you looked outside?" she screamed back at him. "That could have been us! Those bodies could have been ours! There are still Death Eaters, Neville!"

Neville caught hold of the flailing Katie and pulled her against his chest. "But it wasn't us, Katie. This house is so well protected it may well be the only one left standing in London. No Death Eater got in her during the war, and none will enter now. You are safe. WE are safe. And our friends down the hall are safe. Yes, they neither live nor die but they are here. And we will find a way to save them. Let go of your fear, my love, Voldemort is dead and we are rebuilding."

Sirius was moved by Neville's impassioned speech. This was a man that Sirius would have never envisioned the clumsy, shy teenager he knew to have grown into. And it seemed Katie had calmed too, for she had stopped fighting him, and was now clutching to him. Hermione relaxed her demeanor slightly too.

"So," Neville began after a moment's silence with a wicked grin on his face. "What say you to heading upstairs and doing our civic duty by trying to repopulate the planet?"

Katie giggled. "Well, if it's our civic duty."

Neville saluted Sirius with a wink, turned on his heel, gave Katie's rump a sharp slap, and followed her out of the room.

Sirius grinned from ear to ear, booming with laughter. "Your ally gave in, 'Mione. Me thinks it's time for you to relax a bit."

Hermione allowed a smile to cross her face briefly. "Relax, hmm?" She crossed the stone floor towards Sirius to stand before him. He met her eyes and gave her a nervous smile, unsure of what the hell she was about to do. Without further hesitation Hermione hooked the bottom of her tee shirt and flipped it up over her head, discarding it to the floor. Sirius drank in the black lace of her bra. She turned to the side, showing her profile to Sirius, then bent forward and slowly slid her shorts down her long legs, allowing them to pool at her feet. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her lacy black panties. She took a step forward, placing a hand on either of Sirius' shoulders and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Relax, you say?" she breathed. She lightly bit his ear lobe.

Sirius gripped her bare waist, shifted his hips forward in the chair, licked his lips and nodded.

"Mmm, I think you're right." She whispered kissing the side of his neck fleetingly. "How do you suggest I blow off some steam?"

Sirius grinned. "You can do anything you want."

"Good," she raked her nails down his chest, down into his lap, pausing at his upper thigh. "I think I'm going to take a bath. Goodnight!" she said suddenly laughing. She picked up her clothes off the floor, flipped him the bird over her shoulder, and bounded up the stairs laughing.

Sirius sat with him mouth agape, his heart pounding madly. He growled to himself as he righted his bottom in the chair and ran a hand through his hair. Then he allowed himself to smile. "Let the games begin." He said to no one in particular.