Chapter 19

Sirius felt the same way he had about the first day of school on a chilly morning at the end of January. For once, it seemed to him that the old headmaster of Hogwarts had been as true as his word and he found himself getting up at seven o'clock to be ready to leave for work by eight.

Of course, he was not the only one who was going to be doing a first today.

Remus had been corresponding with Molly Weasley quite a bit of few the past few weeks and the first letter he had sent had been saying how grateful they were that she would think to invite Harry to learn with her own children.

If Molly was the teacher, then Remus was now class room assistant. He would be going with the Burrow with Harry.

He did not see the point of Harry going off and him staying at home like a lemon on his own, that was not what any of them had signed up for when they moved in together. He knew there were going to be times when he had to be on his own... but he did not like them.

And so it was a busy morning in the Black-Lupin household. "You don't think the others are going to think I am stupid, do you?" said Harry to his godfather as he and Sirius walked Jamie about the house. Jamie, too, was going for a day out; at Andromeda's. With Ted at work and Dora at school, she was at a bit of a lose end and she had said she was going to be only too pleased to have a bit of company.

"No, I don't think that. I think that they might be a bit ahead of you because you have had a lot more to deal with than they have. But I know you are a quick learner and with Remus with you, you're bound to pick everything up real quick. I can help you tonight when I get back too."

It was not as if he had not been without Sirius before, thought Harry. He had been fine when he had been at Severus' – and he knew he was going to be gone less time than that.

But it was permanent. Harry guessed it was just going to take a bit of getting used to. But if he had got used to the idea that there was magic in the world, then the idea of Sirius going to work should not be such a big deal.

"I am glad to see you have come back to join the ranks. I must say I did not think it would take you so long but then I guess you have had s lot on your hands with that young lad."

That was the greeting Sirius got when he arrived at Moodys' office.

Some things didn't change – apparently this crazy elder man was one of them.

"Harry has needed to me to be at home for a while since he has rejoined our world."

"And he is ready for you to come back now?"

Sirius shrugged. "I hope so. He has gone off to his first day of lessons today with friends so it is a bit of a big day all around."

Sirius did not think Mad Eye was very interested in their home life though.

"Well, it is indeed a big day for the lot of you then," he said dismissively."Dumbledore said you wanted to come back but he did not say why though it is not so hard to guess. For a while, you're behind a desk. You need to settle back in, Black."

"That was not why I became an Auror, even in the first place and you know it Moody," Said Sirius as his blood rose within him. "It is not why any of us become Aurors." He had to be out in the field if he was put together a picture of what Peter had done since he had been in Azkaban.

"Yes, I am aware of that fact, Black. Which of us really joins for the paperwork? But I have got to see how you really are back in the working environment before I can send you out once more. Pace yourself and take your time. Patience."

If he went off at Moody, then he was only going to earn himself more hours sitting behind a desk - not something he wanted to do. He needed coffee. Or five minutes to himself.

"Go and get something to eat. Then we're going to talk."

He had spoken with Dumbledore and he knew the Potters had not had a more loyal friend than Sirius at the end. He felt very sorry for the boy. For all he had been through and still had to be going through.

Yet, he was not going to break the rules for him. He had been out of the Auror department for a long time. The way things were done had changed. If Sirius simply walked straight back in, then he was going to do his job the way they had in the first war.

He had to relearn. He had to figure out where his place in the department was now.

Sirius sat in the staff canteen. For the first time in years, he wanted to do nothing more than to go and smoke a cigarette. His figures itched. He had never been a huge smoker – and he has always been well aware of the risks. Wizards had naturally figured these things out long before the muggles had. Yet, he had been a social smoker – something that in the eyes of the venerable Lily Potter made him an idiot. She was right of course, it was mugs game.

And he would not even socially do it when he had Harry in his care out of respect for both him and his mother.

But he was just in that state of mind.

If he sat back and thought about it logically, Moody was right; he had to ease himself back in gently and get to grips with the basics again.

When he got home and told Remus, he was going to be understanding about the position Moody was in as well. He wondered if the werewolf had even thought that there wasn't a chance he was going to go straight behind a desk; he wondered why he had not assumed that.

He felt like a fool.

"Now, that is a face of a man who has already had a rough day," said Ted Tonks as he came up behind him with a sympathetic smile.

"Indeed, it is my friend."

"What's up? Coming back in not exactly what you thought it was going to be?"

"Not really," said Sirius, as he imagined what he would be doing if he was still at home – probably chasing Jamie and Harry about. Maybe Remus and Harry would be doing another batch of cookies.

What the hell had he been thinking? Who would give up that for this?

"I hate it when I have to come back in after a holiday so I can't imagine what it has been like for you – not what you've had a holiday, mate, but you know what I mean."

"I do Ted. I appreciate it," taking a dip of his coffee, Sirius seriously contemplated whether he was too far into get out. Maybe he should go home. Maybe he was meant to stay at home with Harry. He'd loved it – and they always had a lot of fun together. And if he was at home then he could help out with his education more.

But... all the defeatist thought. It wasn't like him. Not one bit – and he suddenly knew why – because he didn't like it.

"You know it's a good thing you're trying to do. To bring Peter to justice. You know as well as I do it has to be done."

Sirius' head snapped up. He had not even realised that Ted had known the real reason why he had come back. But Andromeda had. He should have known that the two of them had very few secrets from one another. A fact which he was incredible grateful for at that moment.

For one moment, when he looked up – it was not Ted standing across from him. It was James.

"Thanks man," he nodded.

That was exactly what he had needed to hear.

"Is it seventeen?" Harry said nervously.

So far, being at the Burrow for class she not been too bad. He had even had a good time in the morning when his ad got there. Mrs Weasley and Remus had had a cup of tea before they had settled to work, so he had been allowed to go into the yard and play around with his friends.

Fred, George and Ron were the ones he got on with the best. He supposed it was because they were nearest him in age. Even though they were young, there was also something in the twins that reminded him strongly of his godfather.

It was obviously not the same paternal protectiveness, but when he really looked at the way they were with him, they did not treat him so differently from the way that they treated Ron.

So far, they had been more than willing to take him under their wing as another younger brother, something for which he was very grateful for. After all, it was not as if they needed another sibling.

He had always thought it was so hard to make friends when he had been living with his aunt and his uncle. He had never had anyone like Fred and George when he had been there.

Somehow he knew it could not have been all his fault.

Not anymore.

Either that or Sirius and Remus just made everything better.

As much as he had fun that morning though, when they settled down to classes he had found it a little harder. Since he had been with his godfather and his uncle they had done relatively little school work.

They had just had a lot of fun instead.

Suddenly, Remus wished he had thought about it a little more. And yet when he remembered everything else they had had to do, to bond together, to get Harry to understand what it was to be a child... well, something had had to be scarified.

No, he knew they had done the right thing. They had had to focus on the most important things in life.

Harry was a bright boy he had proved that time and time again.

He would be able to catch up.

And for that question at least, the time when he was going to be caught up did not seem to be so far away.

"Quite right, Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley delighted with her student.

When the others got it right she had not sounded quite so excited though and he felt his cheeks flush scarlet.

"I don't want to single him out," explained Molly over lunch, once the children had gone back outside. "I am sorry if I did."

She was trying very hard to act normal about Harry, very hard indeed. She knew there was going to come a time in his life when he understood why every child in their world knew his name. Why everyone looked at him for hope.

But that time was not yet.

And besides, that was just her mind thinking things it shouldn't, Molly knew.

Voldemort was gone and he was not going to come back. Her heart knew it was not the truth. But she was the mother of seven. She had to believe it.

She had to be able to raise them without fear. And so she lied to herself. She told herself all was going to be fine and he was gone. And they would never know terror as they had done before again.

Considering the way that Remus knew others might have been with Harry learning with their kids, Remus thought Molly was doing surprisingly well. She had been born to be a mother that was for sure.

"Not at all, Molly, we both know he is not going to get anywhere unless he gets a bit of positive reinforcement. I am just glad you are willing to let me stay with him. Especially today."

"Well, it is not as if I am running a proper school is it? Besides, I think he needs you to be here with him at the moment. How did he cope with Sirius going in to work today?"

"A lot better than Sirius did I think. He knows he is going to see him tonight."

"And he has you with him," She said and Remus knew he would have to be deaf to miss the admiring tone in Molly's voice. "The things you are both doing for him... between you, you've changed that boy's life. You know that don't you?"

He nodded. He saw the way Harry was running around – the way that he was in general. And he knew it was true.

But he was not the only ones who life had changed.

"At least if you are in the ministry then you can look at the evidence. You can try and figure everything out. Put the pieces of the puzzle together for how he did what he did and where he went."

Remus was trying to comfort Sirius but he did not think he was doing that good of a job. For instance he did not need for Sirius to start punching the holes in his arguments; he knew they were there.

"I do not think it even matters what happened on that day any more. The fact is he could literally be anywhere in the world now. And I don't know where to start looking."

"Which is why you have got to go back to the very beginning."

There was some sort of sense to it. He could see why Remus was suggesting it. But looking into what happened on that night and the day that followed – well, it would hurt.

It would hurt a lot.

But if he did not then James was never going to get any sort of justice was he. It did not matter how much it hurt he told himself. He had to do it – and he would. After all, he had his Gryffindor courage to get him through it.

He had been in the kitchen when he heard the tell tale pitter patter of paws and little feet.

"You're home!"

And suddenly it was all worth it and he knew why he was going ahead with it – because when he got home at night, he was always going to get this greeting.

This was what he was fighting for; this was why he had to get Peter behind bars.

"Pup!" he said as the child rushed into his arms. Picking Harry up, he cuddled him close and kissed him. He had missed him when he had been at work but he did not think he had known how much till the moment he had him back in his arms. "Did you have a good day, buddy?" Sirius asked as he smoothed down the back of Harry's hair.

"Yeah I did, it was so much fun! When we were done with lessons for the day, I helped Ron and the twins de-gnome the garden," He said with a wide smile on his face.

"So Molly is already using the lad for slave labour," laughed Sirius approvingly.

"But it was so much fun. Can I go again?"

Sirius was so glad to hear him ask that. It felt as if he had done the right thing when he had gone back to work and when he had let Harry go a bit.

"Are you kidding, I think you're going most days."

He had to give him the independence he was clearly ready for.

Bending down, he patted and stroked and generally made a fuss of Jamie once he had put Harry down; the pup that seemed to be very like his name sake. He did not like to be ignored that was for sure.

"And did this one have a good day?"

"Andy said he was a bit of a menace but then she also said that if we need her to have him again then she would be happy to have him, so he can't have been too bad," Remus replied.

"Good stuff," Sirius sighed happily.

All in all, he guessed work had not been so bad. True he had not got what he had wanted but it was a definite place to start. He was in – that was the main thing. Harry had survived a whole day with other kids and better than that he had enjoyed it.

"Domestic bliss indeed."

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