Chapter 20

There were some days when Sirius felt as if he was getting used to desk work. Not in that he was enjoying it anymore than he had, but at least he was accepting the fact that this was how it was going to be... which, if he thought about it, wasn't a particular good either.

When he looked back, he did not think he really knew how he had thought it was going to be. But not as it was.

Maybe part of him really had thought he was going to catch Peter within days of being at the ministry. Maybe part of him had thought that it was not going to be that hard.

But he hadn't and it was.

And, it also – well, when he was at work he found himself getting angrier about it all. He tried to keep it at work. He did not want to take the negativity home or get wound up there. Harry did not need to see it.

But then he did not think it was so much of a surprise that he was so angry about it. All day, every day, he was thinking about the man who had taken his best friend and brother from him. Only an unfeeling monster would remain calm.

Part of him wished he was not so emotionally involved some days but there was nothing he could do about that. The emotion he had felt made him the person he was.

After he had looked though another set of parchments which he had known were going to be useless to him before he had even picked them up, he got up and headed over to the cafe. It had become a standard procedure for him to go there when he needed five minutes out. If Moody had noticed when Sirius went off, as he surely must have done, then he had been generous enough not to mention anything.

Sirius wondered how long that was going to go on for. He wondered how long until he said there was no case for looking into Peter anymore and that he had to go on to another case.

He was using Moody's resources and taking the ministry's pay check after all. He had to get some kind of result.

"Another bad day, Sirius?" Arthur Weasley asked him.

While he did not think Arthur was the sort of guy that he was ever going to go out for a pint with, Sirius' respect for Arthur had only grown in the time that her had known him.

Occasionally, they had had dinners together, either at the house or at the Burrow and Sirius had been very careful to watch him, just to see the way that he interacted with his sons. If there was a model father to learn from, the Sirius thought Arthur was pretty much it. He was not a disciplinarian by any standards but he made sure his lads grew up with the right set of morals, managing to walk a line it seemed to Sirius that few others did.

That was the sort of father he wanted to be to Harry.

"Not really - even before Azkaban I could never wait for a result as long as others could. Patience was never my first virtue, Arthur," He admitted.

"I beg to differ – the patience you have with Harry is immense."

"But that's different, isn't it? I can see the progress I have made with him. As for this ghost hunt, I feel as if I might not have come in for a single day for all the good I have done and it is doing my head in. I feel – I feel as if I am letting them all down," he sighed. Once more he felt the itch between his fingers for a cigarette.

"Good things come to those who wait. And while you are waiting you might as well have a bit of fun. I am going to take the boys to a Quidditch match next month. I was wondering if you wanted to tag along with us."

In the middle of everything else, Sirius realised he had not taken Harry to a single game since he had been back. What sort of godfather was he? When the lad had been a baby, he had planned on taking him to at least one game a month.

"Yeah – yeah, we'd love that. I've not had much of a chance to take him yet and I want him to learn. Thanks Arthur."

"My pleasure. He needs to enjoy this side of our world too, right? Besides, if you don't take him to a game where decent teams are playing soon, I fear with Ron as a friend, Harry will go over to the dark side," Sirius raised an eye brow. "The Chudley Cannons – us Weasley's have been supporting them for years. It's the orange on their uniform, you see? Matches our hair colour."

XXX

"Do you think the two of us should tell them that the tree will not take all four of them?" said Remus as he sat out on a rug with Molly. Winter was coming to an end and though it was still perhaps a little chilly, Harry, the homeschooled Weasley's, Molly and himself had gone out for lunch to the big field just behind the Burrow. The picnic which they had taken with them had been quickly devoured, for every second wasted eating was one in which they weren't playing.

The tree in reference was one around thirty feet away from them, an evergreen with strong roots. However, the thin branches were not as strong or long enough to take the weight four little lads. Every time the fourth tried to crawl on, it would shake and Ron, Harry and the twins all came back to earth with a bit of a bump.

Fred and George, in particular, had really enjoyed it seemed taking on the role of big brother to Harry. To be precise, they were relishing in it. Their mentoring was doing him the world of good and the skills he had so far gained from their wide experience included (obviously), tree climbing, catapult shooting and den making. It was a rare day when Harry did not go home with some new graze or bruise – he was, at last, a very normal little boy.

"That can't be fun," Remus commented as he took Ginny on his lap. He found himself having become quite attached to the Weasley children, who he was glad to say, he was becoming a bit of an uncle too. "You see the parent in me wants to stop them," he admitted to Molly.

And yet the moment that the four of hit the ground (again), they dissolved into giggles, brushed themselves down, got up, looked at the tree, and tried to devise some new tactic that would aid them.

"I've charmed the ground beneath the tree. Won't stop bruising of course, but it makes them feel as if they are landing on a mattress," Molly smiled relaxed.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're not the mother of six sons. I've been through this all with Bill and Charlie remember," she said and a slightly troubled look came over her face. "I do feel for the two of them. They were really, I suppose, our 'starter kids' – I didn't really figured out to do charms such as that one until we had the twins, who naturally took everything to a new level. I struggled a lot more when Bill and Charlie were young."

Just as he and Sirius had too, Molly and Arthur had learnt to become the patents they were along the way. That was a comfort.

"Percy seemed quiet this morning," Remus commented as the four musketeers begun attempt six.

Molly nodded, a sadden expression over her face. "I love him, I love him lots, the same as I love all the others; but I do wish he could get on with his brothers better. His so bookish, quite unlike any of the others. And quiet. I try to make time for him, but that isn't easy. He will do when he gets to school I think, away from the twins. They do tend to pick on him a little."

When they had said they were going to go out for the picnic, he had chosen to stay inside and read. They were so close by that he could call from the house if he had needed anything. "He can't wait to get to Hogwarts, of course; I heard him saying so the other day. He was telling Scabbers."

"Scabbers?"

"His pet rat. Disgusting thing really, but sometimes it seems to me it is the only thing he take any joy in. I can't bear to take it away from him." she said. "He prefers it when the older two are home."

"Well, it can't be easy," Remus agreed as his eyes wondered over to the four little boys who were so close and the swept over the little girl who was eager to try and keep up with them, when she wasn't in need of an afternoon nap that was.

Cuddling her close, Remus sighed, unable to think anything except that he really had, at last, found where he was meant to be. There was not another place he'd rather be in the entire world at that moment.

A cheer went up making Ginny jump and his eyes once more went over to the tree where the four boys were now sitting triumphantly side by side.

"Moony – Look at us, we did –"

Thud.

XXX

The final class that day before Remus and Harry went home that day was art. Of course, it was not one that they were going to need when they got to Hogwarts but Remus saw the value in it none the less. Painting seemed to let them unless their creativity a little. Art seemed to be among Harry's favourite lessons though he was not much of a drawer. He just enjoyed looking at the way the colours appeared on the page, making up new ones... All of the children, even Percy, brightened up when they saw Molly reach to get the paints out for them. Invariably though, it end with Fred and George trying to get as much paint on one another as possible.

"Come on then mate, let's get you cleared up before we go home," Remus found himself telling Harry around four thirty. Sirius would be home between five and six, eager to take over with Harry, for which the werewolf was grateful for. He was convinced a day as an Auror would be a walk in the park compared with looking after a mischievous bunch of kids all day.

Squirting soap on to Harry's hands to wash the paint off, he helped Harry wash his hands, rubbing quickly as he did so making Harry laugh. It was then that something caught his eye.

"How did you do this one mate?" he asked seeing a little nip between Harry's fingers. When they had been in the flat it had been a lot easier to keep track of Harry's injuries.

"Scabbers bite me."

Molly was right; that rat was more trouble than it was worth.

XXX

"I have got a bit of exacting news for you tonight," said Sirius as he sat down at the dinner table with Harry and Remus. In an attempt from stopping Jamie from trying to get to their food, he too was eating his own dinner in the corner.

"What's that then?" asked Remus.

"When we were at work today, Arthur came to see me, said he was going to be taking the boys off to see a game of Quidditch soon. He asked if we wanted to go with him."

"Cool!" said Harry. One of the first things Ron and the others had explained to him when they had become friends was Quidditch.

"I take it you want to go then harry?"

"Yeah!"

The remainder of the evening was spent as most were; all of them walked Jamie, Sirius made a valiant attempt to get Harry into the bath and won (for that night at least), Harry and Remus played exploding snap over hot chocolate before Sirius settled the exhausted six year old into bed with a book; Quidditch Through The Adages was his choice that night.

Harry feel asleep with a smile on his face knowing tomorrow they were going to do it all again.

XXX

Although he had not made the connection between the lunar circle and his visits, full moon was one of Harry's favourite time of the month, and just because he had moved house and made friends, that was no different than to how it had been in his early days with Sirius and Remus.

Evenings with Severus were, if anything, more fun than they were to begin with.

As it was with anything, the more you did it, the better you got at it. Severus Snape certainly found this was the case when it came to the young boy. Looking after Harry was not only getting easier, it was also much more enjoyable. Tickling spells and giggling potions were wonderful aids he found.

The lad brought out tenderness in him, one which he had forgotten had existed. Rather than find he was annoyed by the boys incessant babble about his puppy and his friends, he found himself asking questions. As loath as he was to admit it, he was still agreeing with the decisions Sirius was making. Harry did need to be about people his own age.

And while part of him did think getting Harry a dog had been a little indulgent, it was going to teach the boy about responsibility, something he was in time not going to be able to get away from.

As for the Weasley's he had not thought a lot of them when they had met. They were loud and no doubt causing havoc where ever they went. It was hardly a surprise Harry had fallen in love with them...

Still, at least the boy still wanted to come to see him from time to time. As long as he still wanted to see him, then he could handle talking about the Weasley's.

"Sev?"

"Yes Harry?"

"You know when I come to school?"

"Yes."

"What house am I going to be in?"

"None of us know that. We are just going to have to wait for your sorting," he said as the two of them sat side by side on the sofa. "Which house would you like to be in?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before he turned to him. "I think I want to be in Gryffindor because that is where mummy, daddy, Remus and Sirius were when they were at school. And Ron and the twins are going to be Gryffindor's as well... All there big brothers are there – but," Harry paused. "I think when I come to school, I want to have you as my head of house."

Severus chuckled, touched. "Well, I do not think that is a very good reason to want to be in a house as kind as it is. You'll find your place here."

But the thing was, Hogwarts just seemed so far away from Harry's perspective. He just wanted to go to start school then and there...

"We are going to go to a Quidditch game tomorrow," he said changing the subject quickly as only children could .

"I know – are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think it is going to be a bit like when Uncle Vernon took Dudley to the football – but only...better."

"I am sure it will be."

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Author Note: Sorry about the relative shortness of this chapter. It is the last of the 'fillers' between the action which really once more gets going in the next chapter as we head towards the conclusion...