Profuse apologies! Sorry for the delays! But hopefully, the next chapter will be less tardy! See the author's note at the end!
Chapter 6: In Which a Companion is Acquired and Relationships Are Discussed
Sirius awoke with a start, reaching for the spot next to him on the bed. It was still a bit warm; Remus could not have been gone long. He sat up slowly, wincing at the pain in his lower back and arse. And that was when he noticed the two flowers sitting on the pillow next to him- one red, one white, and, Sirius realized as he picked them up, thorn less. The man smiled at the significance of the two flowers, bringing them to his nose, inhaling their scent. Remus had not forgotten his fascination with the language of flowers, even after all these years.
Tottering down the stairs, clothed in a pair of pajama pants and a striped dressing robe, Sirius heard the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. He stood in the door, watching Tabby laugh and chatter at a sleepy Tom, whilst Remus made pancakes at the stove. "Who's ready for pancakes?" Remus shouted, holding a stack on his spatula.
"ME! Me me me!" Tabby cried, holding up the black and white patterned plate. Tom smiled and nodded, noticeably quieter than his sister. Sirius laughed at the scene, walking over to kiss Tabby on the head and ruffle Tom's hair. "Hi, Daddy!" Tabby tilted her head back and grinned at him. "Remy made us pancakes."
Sirius rounded the table, and stood behind Remus, running a distracting hand down Remus's back, curving over a warm hip. "She seems to have adopted you." He whispered in the werewolf's ear.
Remus reached over and deposited the pancakes on the children's plates, then turned back to the animagus whose hand seemed to be dipping lower and lower. "I think it's sweet."
"Dad, can I have some juice?" Remus turned to the table. Tom blinked at him, holding out a cup, his hand shaking slightly.
Sirius peeled away from Remus and turned to the icebox, pulling out the glass bottle of orange juice.
"Hey guys?" Remus said, leaning on a counter, sipping coffee. Two small nearly identical faces turned up to him, Tom sipping orange juice and Tabby dyeing her lips purple-blue with blueberries. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, so we need to go present shopping and you," Remus pointed at Tom and winked, "have a birthday coming up. Gonna be 9!"
Tom smiled brilliantly.
Tabby tilted her head back and twirled, putting her arms up in an 'o'. Her crushed velvet red dress flared up around her, as she said "It's beautiful. This place is beautiful.". Dorea had sent over clothes for both the children, and Tabby had easily squealed over the boiled wool navy coat she wore now. Tom swung from Remus's and Sirius's hands, his heels scuffing along the cobbles of Diagon Alley. Few people were out, however few shops were closed, cheery lights shinning out the windows. Snow sparkled in the noonday sun, and vendors shouted last minute savings on Christmas presents. Tabby stopped her spinning as something caught her eye, and she took off like a shot.
Sirius yelped, and dropped Tom's hand to follow the girl through the crowd. He found her, mashing her face against a store, eyes wide and fixed on something within. "What do you see, Tabby?" Sirius asked, stroking the girl's newly washed curls.
Pressing her finger against the glass, she breathed. "They have doggies!" she giggled, eyes dancing. She stuck out her lip, folding her hands together and put on a 'begging' look. "Can I please, please, please, please, please-"
Sirius laughed and held up his hand. "Let's see the puppies first and THEN we'll talk about it." Remus and Tom appeared from a swarm of people, catching the tail end of the conversation.
Tabby sat in the cage with the puppies, scratching the chin of a very enthusiastic crup, which had climbed into her lap just like she had climbed into the pen. Tom had been more restrained and had draped himself over the fence, throwing a ball for a larger fellow.
The shop was surprisingly busy, however the shopkeeper spotted Tabatha in the cage and quickly made his way over. "No, no no. No one enters the crup pen." He waved his hands franticly, his strange looking robes stretched tight over his chest. Sirius coughed, drawing his attention. The shopkeeper spun, and the dark haired man took a quick, disgusted step back. "Oh my. Is- oh, dear. How can I help you today, Lord Black?" The man said, wringing pudgy hands together. His face shone with perspiration, and he looked slightly like a glazed donut- in fact, the entire man looked like a stack of donuts, folds of fat concealed under strawberry pink robes.
Sirius barely lifted his lip into a slight sneer- he hated people like this. "My children would like a crup," his voice in the high-class drawl he used in these situations.
The man blinked. "I was unaware that you had children, Lord Black." He simpered, thin brows meeting on the pasty face.
Remus turned from where he knelt next to Tom. "I wasn't aware that Lord Black's life was on display." The werewolf rose fluidly. "Perhaps we should take the children to another shop, sweetheart. They seem… prejudiced here." Inside, both Marauders smiled gleefully. They didn't often abuse Sirius's title, but frankly, both men needed to irritate someone. They had been secluded the past few days, hovering between home and St. Mungo's.
The man huffed. "I apologize, my Lord. I am Whitney Chutney, proprietor of this establishment. What can I provide for you today?"
Sirius smirked at the man (and his odd name), and gestured at Tabby, who was still sitting in the pen. "My daughter would like one of your crups. As soon as possible." He stressed the last sentence, seeing what "Chutney" would do.
"Of course, of course! These crups were going to be sold next week, but I can make an exception for such an esteemed customer." Chutney nodded franticly. "The severing spell on the tail has already been done, so the pup is yours when you leave!"
Sirius turned back to the children, noting that Tom had wandered off to look at the selection of owls at the back. "Tabatha, honey, which one do you want?"
Tabby looked up, eyes bright. "This one! Her name is Abeona. That was grandma's name. Isn't she wonderful?" Tabby held the squirming puppy out to her father, and Sirius smiled softly.
"You might have to come up with a new name for your puppy. Abeona is a boy."
Tabby gasped, smiled and shrugged. "That's okay. I didn't know if I really wanted a girl doggy. His name is Hugo Horatio Wallace Dacey, but we can call him Dacey. Isn't that a wonderful name?" Dacey licked the girl's face, and wagged a stumpy tail.
The small group, now joined by the dog, spun through Diagon Alley, before stopping for tea in Grande's Tea Room. Tabby sat, smack up against the floor to ceiling windows in the upstairs room, making her way through a pile of cucumber and egg salad sandwiches and drinking a cup of tea that had become more like very sweet milk. Remus suspected that quite a few sandwiches had made their way into Dacey's now rounded belly, the sleeping crup curled in Tabby's lap, plate balanced on top of him.
Tom sat across from Remus, watching the werewolf closely. "So, you're dad's boyfriend?"
The werewolf stared at the small child, surprised at his thinking. "Yes, I am." He said flatly, deciding to tell him the truth. Tom nodded, shoving a buttered scone into his mouth. Remus watched him closely for a moment. "Are you okay with that?"
The boy nodded, and swallowed a large gulp of tea. "You have to be nice. And you may never ever be mean to Tabby." The boy glared at him, in his best attempt to be menacing. "I mean it." In a sudden change of mood, he smiled brightly, and then slipped off his chair to join his sister at the window.
The door opened as Sirius rejoined them from the washroom. He grinned at the pair at the window. Sliding into his seat next to Remus, his smile faded, however.
"Remus, I kinda want to talk to you about where this is going." His whisper came across the cups of slowly cooling tea. "I love what we're doing, but I feel like we've skipped an entire relationship."
"Sirius, we already had one. We were just too stupid to not recognize what was happening." The werewolf wrapped his arm around Sirius, pulling him in closer.
"Moony?"
"Yes?"
"What are we going to do tomorrow when we go to Lily's?"
Both men let out a laugh, knowing the ginger's response would be a slap to the back of the head, a stern finger and congratulation.
"Mummy?" The small child in her lap reached up and pulled a strand of white blond hair.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry sweetheart." Narcissa turned back to her son, petted the boy's hair that was so like her own and smiled softly. "Mummy was thinking about someone."
Draco frowned at her. "Who was it, Mummy?"
The woman smiled softly at the child. "James Potter. He was a smart, smart man. Wild, but very smart. He was friends with your daddy."
The boy frowned. "Potter? There's a Harry Potter in my class at school. Is that his son?"
Narcissa laughed at her son- the warm, light chuckle that was more natural to her than her society bred harsh peal of bells. "Probably. I do believe that he had five sons. His poor wife."
Draco blinked at his mother. "Why didn't I have lots of brothers, Mummy?"
Smiling softly, she kissed her son's forehead. "Why mess with perfection? Let's return to our story. 'Peering inside, he saw the little old lady sitting at her table, polishing a wand. In a corner behind her, the King's sheets were washing themselves in a wooden tub…"*
Sorry about the long delay! But sometimes real life manages to fuck up. But please, please, please review! I want opinions, ideas, critiques and well, any kind of input! The next chapter will be the last of pre-Hogwarts stuff, so then a time skip!
Love,
Dawnie
*Taken from Rowling, J.K. "Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump." The Tales of Beedle the Bard. New York: Children's High Level Group, 2008. 61-78. Print.
Did I mention that you should review? To take a page out of my cousin's, Liza Lew, book, I'll ask a question:
How many Ravenclaws were in Dumbledore's Army? Name them all for extra credit!
The first person to answer correctly gets an advance on the next chapter!