Chapter 18

"It!" Harry could not help but feel delighted as he managed to catch Fred.

An hour and a half into the visit with the Weasley's and Harry was just about keeping up with the other kids, while they played tag in the garden. The snowy lawn was populated by the children that night for the first time that evening. Though they were wrapped up in their winter costs, it was just how Sirius had thought it was going to be when he had first tried to get the house.

Harry turned and run away, desperate to be not it once more by Fred when he had just got him. He had seen Charlie do it to Bill more than once and the two of them had just been stuck it-ing one another for a while until one of them could break away.

He did not want to get caught up in that.

But when he hot tailed away his foot caught and he fell.

Having been watching from the window at that moment, Sirius went to gout to him to help him up yet Remus grabbed his arm, knowing this was precisely the sort of thing that they had to let him do on his own at times.

"He'll pick himself back up – look," the werewolf said gently.

Remus was right as it turned out. Harry did not even look to see if he was going to come running to get him up. He just brushed himself down and got on with the game as if he was any other boy playing with his friends.

It gave Sirius a sense of liberation – and as inexplicable as it was, a feeling of grief.

When he had first come to him, he had needed Sirius to be his all. But with the growing confidence Harry also begun to gain his independence.

He was never going to stop loving Sirius and he was going to need him for days to come yet. However...

"He is growing up," he sighed as he watched him from the window.

He had not expected it to happen so soon. He had missed so many years with his godson. And when he had been so dependent... part of him had always seen Harry as a baby. Perhaps part of him always would...

But he was not. He was a little man in his own right and with that first brush down, Sirius knew he was beginning to make his own way in the world.

It was a small step, but a step none the less.

Sat in the living room at the end of the night, Sirius felt as if he was more than able to pat himself and Harry as well as Remus on the back for a good nights work. Together, and with a little help from their friends, they had managed to make a few more and had he thought been rather good hosts.

He felt sure Molly and Arthur were going to be more than willing to make play dates between Harry and the lads.

Mission accomplished.

New Year...

"So far today the poor little fella has been Jamie, Bertie as well as horribly enough, Sevvy. If Harry does not make his mind up soon then the pup is going to develop split personality disorder," Remus announced as he came in from the yard to find Sirius pulling on a jacket.

Christmas had come and gone far quicker than either of them would have liked it too if they were honest. They had both so been looking forward to the look on Harry's face when he had opened his first ever bunch of presents from Santa Claus. It had taken some explaining as to why he had never come before, and how despite this fact, he had known Harry was a good lad all along. Lots of blame on the Dursleys had soon put an end to Harry's own theories though as they tried to stop any of the old insecurities coming back unwelcomed.

Harry had been spoiled thoroughly that Christmas though, as he had deserved to be. His toy box was at last brimming and his book shelf was stacked. However, toys and books had paled in significance when he had got the one thing he had really wanted.

The chocolate Labrador pup (who Sirius had always seen as 'Buttons' for some reason or other, not that he was his to name) had been literally just what Harry had wanted it seemed.

In spite of the fact that he and Remus had tried to be strict to begin with, it was now beginning to be harder and harder to separate the boy and pup. They had tried to install the rule that he was to sleep downstairs but so far every morning when Sirius had got up, the puppy had managed to make its way up the stairs on to the foot of Harry's bed. The Animagus could not help but wonder if he had some aid in doing so.

Oddly enough, if that was the case, part of him was over the moon with Harry's defiance.

Something told him he had not exactly got this parenting thing down to an art yet... Harry was, however, well fed, happy and loved. If he had yet to work out the finer details, he was at least sure he was going in the right direction.

"Well, if he is called Jamie then he is going to have the house destroyed in an hour so I am not going to have that. He can't be a Bertie because that makes him an old man when he is just a pup still and I don't care if it had two or four legs – I am not living with a Sevvy, whether it makes Harry happy or not. I have my limits, Moony."

Perhaps predictably though it did not come to that, as Harry later declared that day the pup was indeed a Jamie.

"We are going to go for a walk in the forest? You up for it Moony?" said Sirius as he realised they were going to just have an hour left of day light. Better that he got both his pups worn out before bed.

Remus shook his head perhaps as Sirius could have predicted. It was edging toward that time of the month.

"I think I am going to stay here – but you guys have a good time."

As much as he had had a wonderful time when Christmas had been upon them, the werewolf was left more than a little tired from it. Full moon was once more nearly upon them. But he felt better than he had done in quite a while considering where he was in the lunar cycle.

Everything had settled down and he finally dared to think all was rosy in there garden.

"You're pensive."

The fact that Remus could count on one hand the times he had said that to Sirius on one hand in their entire friendship, he knew there had to be something up.

"I am," he said to him with a sigh.

"So what is it? Talk to me Padfoot."

Sirius sighed. It looked to Remus as if he had something on his conscience. "What is it?"

"I have just been thinking lately. The two of us have been trying hard to make things as normal for Harry as we can right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it just hit me that normal would be me going to work, like Arthur does, and Ted."

He had been thinking about it more and more since Harry had begun to settle down. It was not as if he was so needed as he had been in the early days any more. Harry and Remus would be fine. Financially, it made a lot of sense for him to be the one to go to work, due to the limited amount of employers who would take Remus on. They were not going to starve if he didn't get a job but he did not want to spend all the money he had inherited on day to day things. He was sure even the deepest well runs dry.

And then lastly, there was the matter of a certain rat to be dealt with. Until he had made sure that Pettigrew got what was coming to him, he was sure James's ghost was not going to be able to rest either – and neither would he.

Remus could not say he was against the idea entirely. Sirius had never been one to twiddle his thumbs all day.

But then he was also able to see the arguments he was using as reasons not to go back to work. Harry was naturally always going to be the main thing against it. He knew if Harry had his way then he was not going to miss a day of his life. The little pup always wanted his godfather close by.

Secondly, if they were clever about his investments, then Sirius did at least in theory have enough to support them as he had said he was going to until Harry went to school – when they could both get jobs as they weren't going to be needed at home.

Finally, he had the name Sirius Black and he was still relatively new out of jail. He had to be careful about not over doing it. But then if anything Remus knew anything about his friend at all, he knew that was going to make Sirius want to go to work more so that he had a chance to stick his middle finger up at the nay sayers. To show he was fine...

Yet at the end of the day, it was his choice.

"I think if you want to then you should be able too."

They were parents; and they were always going to put the need of the child in their care above their own. But it did not mean they did not have wishes or lives of their own to live.

"I have to do his if I am ever going to get to that – that rat the three of us took for a friend. When he turned into a rat, we should have known. A dog, a stag and a rat? What were we thinking?"

Remus agreed as he gave as mournful sigh. He was never going to forgive himself for not seeing the signs just as Sirius would never...

And as much as he wanted to say something adult like they had to put the past behind them if they were ever going to reach a future in which they were going to be happy, he knew Peter had to pay. That was imperative.

If he did, then he knew himself for one was going to sleep a lot better than he had up to that point.

If he lived on then he was always going to be able to come back and finish what he had started. As long as Harry lived then he was going to be a target for the faithless fourth marauder. If Wormtail died then he could do nothing. Yet it was Voldemort who had to die for Harry to be safe.

But killing Wormtail felt like a good start.

"I don't know – but I think for him alone then you should go back. He is out there and he has to be found."

If they were doing things at least in appearance by the book, they had a bigger chance of finding him than if they were on their own.

"I am going to go to Dumbledore and see what he thinks."

It was not that he had any more faith in him than he had had when he had come out of jail. But it felt as if the professor was a good place to start if he was going to go back into the ministry. The ministry who had locked him up without evidence for years on end.

As ever, Dumbledore was only too happy when he got a call from Sirius. He missed the days when he had been a hero to the young Gryffindor more than ever.

When he had said he wanted to come to him for help, he had been only too glad to open his doors to him once more. He knew he did not view him as he had done – but it was a step in the right direction.

All the concern he had had about letting Harry live with his godfather he knew head been proved unjust. He could not care for the lad more if he was his son.

Sirius was a wonderful father for all the faults he had – they numbered many, as he was sure Black himself would admit. But he was by no means failing as a parent.

"Professor," said the younger of the two men as he came into the office not wishing to be overly formal with him but neither wanting the two of them to have cosy little chat, something he had out grown long ago.

But then he knew he had to be civil at the same time for he wanted a favour when he came here.

For the most part he felt as if he had gotten over the worse of the effect of Azkaban. All he had to do now was make sure that the professor could see that as well.

"Sirius, it is good to see you," Dumbledore said to him in reply, genuinely.

He had hoped that he would get to see the marauders and Harry a little more over Christmas but neither had he liked to push in. He had not always got the warmest reception when he went to the flat. And he was yet to see the house which they had moved too.

"Thank you sir."

"And how are Harry and Remus?" he was eager for any news he might be able to get of the lads development.

"He is a lot better now than he was. He had a great Christmas."

Dumbledore was glad to hear it even if he wished he had been a part of it. It was about time the lad had a childhood and he saw it now. He really did. "I trust you too had a festive holiday?"

Sirius smiled; that had come naturally when he had seen his boy having such a good time, seeing how easily he had receive the presents which he been given.

And then there had been the sheer rush of joy he had felt when he had given him Jamie.

It had been the first time Harry had ever received something he had ever wished hard for.

And it had been a moment Sirius would not have missed for all the tea in china.

"I did; as did Remus. We had a really wonderful time."

"Good."

"And did you have a restful holiday sir?" Sirius asked to be polite.

"It was – peaceful."

"Good."

"Well, what is it that I can do for you today Sirius?"

The Animagus stopped for a moment trying to gage the reaction which the professor was going to give him to what he was about to request.

Yet the fact was he did not know the aging head master well enough anymore, if he had ever known him well, to know what he would think.

"You see the thing is, sir, Remus and I have been talking. Harry has really settled down wonderfully into our new home now – and I was beginning to think it was high time we introduced another element of normality to his life. And the one we want that to be is me going to work." He said to him - perhaps predictably the old man's face for now remained unreadable.

Sirius got out of his chair. Again, he was nervous when he was in Dumbledore's presence – stupid he knew but he was. He had hoped he was never going to give this man power over their lives again and yet the moment he had needed help his he had gone running to him as he might have when he had only just graduated.

"It is just, I know I am never going to be happy until I know that Peter is behind bars and as long as he is not, then I am doing an injustice not only to the memory of Lily and James but also to Harry. And on top of that I am a good auror – you know I am."

"If that is what you want, then of course, I will talk to Mr Moody for you."

Sirius had never thought it was going to be that easy.

"Well, thank you sir – thank you very much."

Whatever he had thought the younger man was going to ask him when he had come into his office that day, he had not thought he was going to be asking to go back to work.

He had thought the man was just going to be a stay at home dad to Harry until the lad was ready to go to school. After he had missed so much time with Harry, it was quite a shock to him that he wanted to join the nine to five workers once more – though being an Auror had never been a nine to five job.

But – but since he had been back, he had seen that he had been wrong about a lot of things when it came to Remus and Sirius as well as Harry. And he knew at least in part, he was responsible for the fact they had not been together since...

Well, he had been wrong - he knew he had been wrong now.

And Sirius was right he was a good Auror. He and James had been the best of their generation with Frank Longbottom. Maybe that was why it had been so hard to see their year destroyed. Because all of them, in their own way, had had so much promise.

They were leaders and had they all lived as they should have then he knew that right then the ministry would have been stronger than it had ever been before.

But they had not.

Remus was glad that the meeting had gone so well - that Sirius had got what he had wanted. It seemed to him that they were tired of fighting uphill for everything they wanted, for all their lives.

Precious few things came easily in this life and if it was worth it, then he had no doubt that Sirius would fight teeth and nail to get to it as he had always had done in the past. But why should he have to?

He had done nothing wrong and he could be as productive as any other member of wizarding society. Why should he not work if he wanted too?

And he agreed with him – the two of them had been idle too long when it came to the matter of Peter Pettigrew. There were very few things that mattered now they had Harry back.

But he was one of them.

He had to be found and he had to pay for what he had done. Not only for the lives he had taken but for the years he had stolen.

As long as he was out there then they were not going to be able to rest. Not truly.

"Have you told Harry you are going to go back?"

He had planned to talk to the lad before he had gone to see the headmaster. But to see Pettigrew come to justice – the thought had taken him over and he hadn't. As it was though, he been thinking about what Harry was going to do with himself as well.

As much as he would love to let him play all day every day, that was a dream for a perfect world.

He was six, soon to be seven. He had four years to get up to speed with his reading and his writing before he headed into school.

Luckily, it seemed that he and Remus were not the only ones who had been putting though into Harry's education.

"Not yet. Why?"

Remus cleared his throat. "I got a letter from Molly and she said she would be happy to have Harry over at the Burrow. I can go with him if you are at work and he can learn with Ron and the twins."

They both knew he might be a bit less distracted if he was to learn at home. But it was going to be much more fun if he was in a 'class' with other kids. Learning aside by side with the Weasley boys was going to force them to bond together.

"Sounds like a bit of plan to me if I am honest."

The end of the last year had been a break with the past; and even though he had known it, it wasn't until that evening that it became clear to Harry Potter.

He was the happiest he had ever been he thought as he climbed into bed in his new dragon pyjamas which he had got for Christmas. As soon as he was under the covers, Jamie jumped up by his side and settled down.

One of these days he had a feeling that Sirius and Remus were going to give in and let him sleep with him permanently.

"You in bed yet mate?" he heard a call from down stairs.

"Yup."

Sirius bounded up the stairs as he always did to tuck him in.

"Are you ok?" he said as he got there. Harry nodded.

Over dinner, Sirius and Remus had told him about the changes that were going to be going on in their lives. And he was happy because he knew he was going to be seeing more of the Weasley's.

He had always wondered what it had felt like to have friends and for the night of the Christmas party he had known. None of them had been mean to him – none of them had thought he was stupid. They had simply treated him as if he was one of them.

He had never had that sort of inclusion before. He had been able to laugh with, at them and vice versa. It had been brilliant and he knew he wanted to have that more often.

But he was not sure what he thought of Sirius going to work. He knew it was not going to be so bad – Remus was going to be home with him and he was going to be with his friends.

But it was going to be weird...

"You know if it does not work out then I can always quit and come home and be with you in the day again. You mustn't be afraid to tell me in a few weeks, once we've given it a go, if you are not happy. I'd hate to think that you could not tell me if you were unhappy."

"I know," said Harry as he settled into the crock of Sirius' arm, snuggling into him.

"That's my boy," Sirius said as he kissed his forehead.

It was brought home to Sirius that all he had to go on when it came to being a parent was trial and error. If one thing didn't work, then he would move on to the next thing. And then the next...

But they were happy as they were... so why was he trying to mend something that was not in fact broken.

Yet, he knew the answer to that one. To make sure that, at long last, justice was done.

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