Disclaimer: I barely own my own brain.
Chapter 18
Sirius Black was pacing in his cousin's sitting room because his nerves were on edge. He had been through a twelve year nightmare followed by two years of running and hiding. Now it was all over and he was more scared than he had been in all of those fourteen years.
"Sirius will you sit down, we still have an hour before we go to meet them." Andromeda told him.
He sat for a couple of seconds before standing and pacing again.
Andromeda stood "Come on, at least if we're in public you can't pace and I can get some tea."
She grabbed his elbow and led him out the door where they apparated to an alley that Tonks had told them about and then marched him to the café and into a seat.
Sirius sat there fidgeting until the waitress came over to take their order.
"What can I get for you today?"
"Do you have anything for nerves?" Andromeda asked the pretty blond waitress.
She looked thoughtful for a moment then said "We have a tea that's supposed to calm someone that's angry, that might work."
"That should be fine and some biscuits please."
"We're waiting on our next batch. Our baker hasn't been by this morning because he's supposed to avoid us for some reason, but his Mum is bringing them by so they should be here in about an hour."
"Just tea will be fine thank you."
Andromeda reached across the table and grabbed his hand "Sirius relax, it's going to be fine. Just remember that she's his mother and they really love each other. Don't do or say anything that goes against that and you'll be all right."
He gave her a weak smile "I can't open my mouth without screwing up, I've been that way all my life and you know it."
"I also know that the person I've been talking to for the last few days isn't the same person he was as a kid. You've matured Sirius, granted you still have some ways to go, but you're not the prankster that you were anymore and you know it."
"Azkaban has a way of killing the prankster in you. I just don't want to mess this up; I really want to be part of his life Andi. I'll cut off an arm if that's what she wants. I'll live as a muggle if that's what he says I need to do, I don't care what it is."
Upon hearing the man's words the waitress had paused as she was about to set the tea on the table and looked at them. "Crap" she muttered.
Andromeda looked up at her and smiled "You must be Lisa, my name is Andromeda Tonks and this is Sirius Black."
"Tonks, are you related to the pink haired Tonks?"
"That's my daughter; we're here to meet her and Rebecca when they come in."
"Oh good, I thought you might be some of the ones after them. We seem to have become the meeting spot of choice among your crowd." She looked Sirius up and down for a minute before sitting next to Andromeda.
"Now I remember your name. You're Harry's Godfather, which would explain the Azkaban comment."
Sirius had been looking confused by the whole thing "You know Harry?"
"Well yeah, he comes in here a lot lately. He also bakes the best biscuits you'll ever taste. You must be the reason he's not the one making the delivery today."
"Harry delivers biscuits? I thought Tonks said he got a job here baking them."
Lisa laughed "He has to wait until after his birthday to start, but he's been making some at home the past couple of days and bringing them by to exchange for sitting around drinking this tea. Try it, it's his favorite."
Sirius took a sip and his eyes widened "This is good, what's in it?"
"It's a family secret and I have to tell you that Harry's a lot closer to marrying into it than you." She got up with a smile "Enjoy the tea, I'll make sure you get some of those biscuits when they get here." and she went to help another customer.
Sirius watched her walk away before turning back to his cousin "I used to be able to understand what people said to me. You know whole conversations and everything. What happened?"
"What don't you understand?"
"She seems to know a lot but she's a muggle."
Andromeda gave him a sad smile "Remember that muggle boss of Harry's that my daughter said hit Snape?"
His eyes got wide again "You mean?"
She nodded "This is where it happened from what she told me. Lisa and her Aunt and Uncle know all about us now. Her Uncle's the owner."
"And Rebecca is the Mum who's bringing the biscuits?"
"Sounds right, see you understand you just need the small blanks filled in."
"What about the marrying into the family thing, I didn't understand that part either."
She smiled wide "Can you keep it to yourself and not make any comments if I tell you?"
He nodded.
"I think that she might be one of the girls in that line waiting for Harry to pick one."
He looked at the waitress "Damn, that boy really can line them up." The swat on his arm had him look at his cousin again.
"You said you wouldn't make any comments."
"I didn't mean anything bad by it, just that she's a good looking girl. Really, I'm not going to say anything to her or Harry about anything dealing with his love life. I never have anything I say about things like that come out right; they always sound like an insult for some reason."
"That one just did. Just try not to say anything that your mother wouldn't want you to…never mind, that's not a real good way to judge. Let's try this, if that was your daughter and a boy was to come over to date her, what would you do?"
He thought about it for a few minutes before answering "I'd probably try to make sure they got the message that their life expectancy had just shortened."
"Good, now think of the types of comments that you wouldn't want her to hear."
He snorted "Just about anything that comes out of my mouth would qualify."
"That's all right because you can change that. Ted wasn't too different from you when I married him, he loved to have fun and his sense of humor was crude at best. Having Nymphadora come into our lives was the thing that changed all of that. He became more sensitive about what he said and became more responsible about his everyday life and his job.
"Just think about if you had a daughter and what you would and wouldn't say in front of her, use that as your guide."
"James said that having Harry was the biggest change to the way he looked at everything, but the biggest change I saw in him was when he was trying to get Lily to notice him. I almost didn't recognize the person he had become after just one summer."
"People will change if they want something bad enough. You've already started just because you want to be part of Harry's life, keep going with it and you'll probably really like the person you find when you're done."
They heard a loud "Yes" and saw their waitress run to the door where Tonks stood with another woman who was holding a box. She took the box out of the woman's hands and quickly kissed her on the cheek before disappearing into the kitchen.
Rebecca looked at Tonks "Are we sure he's not putting some sort of spell on those things?"
Tonks laughed "If he is she's the only one affected. I think she just had to eat those nasty things they used to have here for too long."
Lisa was back into the dinning area before they had even finished talking with several plates of biscuits and putting them on the tables where the customers thanked her with large smiles.
"Ok, maybe they all had to eat them for too long." Tonks said as she looked around "This place is a lot more crowded than it was the first time we came in."
Lisa came by with a couple of more plates "Biscuit Boy's the reason; we're only this crowded in the mornings when he drops a batch off. The afternoon crowd is the same as it used to be because they're always gone by then. The usual crowd stuck around this morning to wait for the delivery."
She motioned with her head "Come on, I promised Tonks Mum some of these." She quickly led them over to the booth that had Andromeda and Sirius who was currently standing. As soon as the plate was on the table she was gone again.
"That girl can really move when she needs to." Tonks said as she watched Lisa reappear from the kitchen with more plates.
"I'm going to have to watch him bake those things and see what his secret is." Rebecca said with a smile before turning back to the table.
"Hello Andromeda and you must be Sirius. It's nice to finally meet you." She held out her hand and he shook it.
"I'm happy to meet you too. I want to thank you for everything you've done for Harry." He said as he offered her his seat and sat next to Andi.
"I'm happy to help him any way I can, he's changed my life in the last couple of weeks." She looked at Tonks with a smile "I don't think I've ever worried more or lost more sleep in my whole life."
"True, but you get to have some really interesting conversations in the middle of the night. I kind of miss those."
Rebecca laughed and turned back to Sirius "So, how are you handling freedom so far?"
"I think I'm still in shock over the whole thing. I've wanted to walk in Diagon Alley as a free man for so long now but haven't been able to. Tonks little riot seems to have taken the whole place over."
The pink haired witch smiled "All they had to do was fire that reporter and print a retraction, it's their own fault that none of them can get out of the building without quitting first. I hear that the Quibbler's circulation has increased quite a bit since they hired those four reporters who quit when the whole thing started."
Andromeda spoke next "I talked to Bill and Fleur yesterday; he figures that the whole thing would have died out after a few hours if Fleur's father hadn't gotten the French Minister to show up. The real clincher for it was when the Bulgarian Minister showed up with Victor Krum next to him. Bill said that having Fleur and Viktor standing there talking about Cedric and then inviting people who knew him better to do it put the real spine in the crowd. They said that there hasn't been a single mention of Harry so far."
Rebecca let out a breath "Good, I was afraid when you mentioned Krum that someone would be wanting him to show up and talk too. I'd rather he didn't go anywhere near the place until it's over; there are just too many things that could go wrong in a crowd that big."
Tonks put a hand on her shoulder "You know Madam Bones would have all of her available Aurors watching out for him if he had to show up."
Andromeda laughed "Probably goblins too. Bill said he mentioned to his boss that his sister was going to show up yesterday and they had him bring her in to be fitted with a light mail shirt and short sword, they had a contingent of warriors with her at all times. It seems that being honored as a warrior has some benefits because the goblins protect their own. Bill's chest was so puffed out when he told me about it that I thought it was going to explode.
"He said that Ginny's going to be going in every morning to learn how to use that sword and learn more about goblin customs. Apparently when Fudge saw the way she was treated by them he talked with one of the goblin warriors about it, if she wants it she'll have a job as the new ministry liaison when she graduates."
Rebecca had lost her coloring "Now I really don't want him there. He doesn't need to be anywhere he needs goblin mail and a sword. I saw the last time he needed one and he almost died because of it. I also don't want him where he needs that many body guards."
"Don't worry Bill's already got a plan for when they start calling for him, he figures it's only a matter of time since he's the main topic of that article. He and his twin brothers have something they worked up to satisfy the crowd, they plan on doing it later today anyway even if there's no mention of him. He said he'd give Harry's apologies for not being there and that he feels his presence would take the focus away from Cedric where it should be."
"I'll have to have Ginny thank him for me and invite him and Fleur over for dinner." She said as color started to come back to her face.
Tonks changed the subject "Tell them the news about the adoption."
Her face lit up "Mrs. Collins stopped by the clinic yesterday. She showed the commendation and letter from the Prime minister to the judge who handles adoptions. He apparently called a few people he knows in the Minister's office and found out that the letters were real. We have a court date next Wednesday to finalize it. We invited Madam Bones and Susan over this Saturday for dinner to thank her." She laughed "I seem to be thanking everyone these days by having Harry cook them dinner"
"Yeah but he loves it and probably wouldn't have it any other way." Tonks said then looked at Sirius.
"You seem to be awfully quiet."
He smiled "I'm just trying to let it soak in." He looked at Rebecca "I'm glad that the two of you found each other, you really look and sound like you love him."
"I do, I can't tell you how it happened so fast but I can tell you I wouldn't have it any other way. Even with all of the worrying and sleepless nights I've had I've never been happier."
She looked him in the eyes "Can you accept me as his mother?"
"If he's half as happy as you seem to be then it's the easiest thing in the world. That's all I really ever wanted for him and I know that's what James and Lily wanted for him too." He took a deep breath.
"I'm going to go see his parent's resting place on Sunday, I've never had the chance to visit and from what I understand Harry doesn't even know where they are. I was wondering if all of you would like to go with me." He smiled sadly "I admit that part of my reason is for some support for me, I'm afraid to face them alone because I failed Harry so bad."
"I'll check with him and see what he says but I think he'd like that. Can I ask you a question?"
"Anything you want."
"Why did you stop writing to him after the Tournament?"
He sighed and stared into his tea "I keep thinking about that since Tonks and everyone came back that night saying he didn't want anything to do with us. I've come up with dozens of reasons but all of them have been lies. After Andi got me sobered and cleaned up I was able to realize that the real reason was that I was stuck in self pity. I spent so much time trying to get out of that house when I was growing up and then find myself practically imprisoned there that I just kind of shut everything else out except the booze. I know it doesn't excuse what I did but it's the reason.
"Except for the loss of James and Lily all of the memories that the dementors brought up were from that house and I found myself stuck there again trying to find a new way to get my freedom from it." His eyes had a haunted look to them by the time he finished.
Rebecca noticed this as she watched him. "Have you talked to anyone about your time in there?"
He shook his head "I don't think anyone wants to hear about that place."
Andromeda took his hand "It's not for them to hear about it, it's for you to talk about it. We'll sit down when we get home ok."
He just nodded.
Lisa stopped by to see if they needed anything else and noticed the biscuits. "What don't you like Harry's biscuits?" She asked, snagging one off the plate.
Tonks grinned "Two of us get them straight out of the oven." She picked one up and handed it to Sirius "Try this it might help cheer you up. Just one of these getting close to Professor McGonagall's mouth brought her out of a coma."
"Yeah and the fact that you tried to shove it down her throat while she was catatonic had nothing to do with it." Rebecca said.
"At least I didn't do a full body tackle on her like Harry did. I still want to see that memory."
He was looking confused again when he took a bite of it "Bloody hell, Harry cooked these?"
Rebecca and Tonks laughed "That's pretty much the reaction we get from everyone."
Lisa smiled "Uncle says that the best thing he did was not throw 'that shouting lad out when he started threatening people' because he's more than tripled the morning crowd. All of the regulars have started calling him Biscuit Boy and usually clap when they see him come in with that box."
Sirius was starting his third when he asked "I thought he wanted anonymity?"
Rebecca shook her head "He just wants to be known for something he does and not something that his Mum did."
"Something his Mum did? I don't understand."
She had a sad look "The whole Boy Who Lived thing, he remembers the night that it happened and says that it had to be something his mother did because after she was killed he just laid there. He really hates the fame from that night and wants to be known for something else if he's known at all."
"He remembers that night?" Rebecca and Tonks both nodded. He smiled a little "I can think of a whole lot worse things to be known for than these." He said as he reached for the plate only to see the last one disappear. Looking up he saw Lisa chewing.
"Sorry, I'm only allowed to set aside six of them for me so I usually eat the ones I bring Harry." She smiled "Since you're the reason he skipped out today I figured you owed me a couple at least."
"You won't be able to fit through the door if you keep that up you know." A voice from behind her said.
Lisa let out a long sigh "You know I walk all of the calories off just trying to get some to everyone Aunt Amanda. When he starts baking them here I figure I'll be running like that all day and I won't get any during the week when I go back to school."
Her Aunt gave her a stern look for a moment before smiling. "We'll probably have to hire two waitresses to take your place because at my age I know I can't move like that anymore." She looked at Rebecca and Tonks "When you have people meet you have them tell us, we keep that back booth set aside for all of you because it gets kind of crowded now days."
"Thanks Amanda. It's probably a good thing you never liked the quiet life isn't it?"
She chuckled "Before Harry and Tonks came in we were thinking of selling and just starting retirement early. I thank the two of you every night in my prayers for this because I'd have killed my poor husband after only six months without this place to give him something to do."
Tonks grinned "Glad we could help, I'm not sure what I did but I'll take the credit anyway."
"The small crowd we had in here after that first visit was here to see if there'd be a repeat of it. It seems I'm not the only one who likes a bit of excitement from time to time.
"I need to get back to the kitchen; it's nice to see you again."
Sirius had that lost look again "Uhm, what happened the first time here?"
Tonks growled one word "Lupin."
He nodded "Sorry."
Andromeda took over "He's disappeared. He was gone after we got back from the trial and we haven't heard from him since."
Tonks looked at Sirius "I'm sorry, I know he's your friend and I never meant for him to leave. I just wanted him to think about how he treated Harry."
"It's all right; he was this way in school too. He gets too stuck on everyone seeing only the wolf that he forgets there are people who accept it without question. I've told him that being the wolf had nothing to do with your and Harry's anger and reminded him that you were the one pointing out that he's safe most of the month, but he's lived with being the outcast so long I think it's become his only comfort."
Andromeda looked shocked "You actually figured all of that out?"
He grinned "My brain may not work all the time but it does provide me with brief moments of brilliance."
She patted his arm "Very brief, but I think we can work with it."
"So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" Rebecca asked.
"I don't really know. I never thought about it before a few days ago because it was just a false hope and I learned in Azkaban not to have any hope. Now I've thought about it a lot and have no idea what to do.
"I was an Auror before but don't really want to do that again, the only problem is that I've been away for so long that I don't even remember much of the training. I was never qualified to do anything else."
"Was there anything you wanted to do as a kid?"
He smiled "Pranks, I wanted to be the owner of Zonko's joke shop. Now I don't even understand most of the pranks being pulled. Hell I don't even really understand the ones that the Marauders pulled when we were at Hogwarts anymore. I think I became the old guy I used to make fun of when I was a kid."
Tonks was thoughtful for a second "How are you at finances?"
"Pretty good, I was trained to take over the family since I was five so most of my life was about making more money."
She grinned "How would you like to be an advisor to a fledgling business, one that might help you understand these new pranks?"
His brow furrowed "Who do you know who would want my name associated with their business. It would have to be someone who's missing a few things upstairs."
"Let me talk to them and see. Do you mind if I mention that you're Padfoot?"
He shrugged "I don't see why not, Andi had me fill out the registration paperwork yesterday so I'm legal now. Why?"
"Just wait, I think you'll be surprised by these guys. You already know them."
"All right, let me know what I need to do."
Rebecca asked the next question "How do you plan on moving on with Harry?"
He looked into his tea again with a sad smile. "The only thing I can come up with is just introducing myself like we've never met. I know that sounds stupid but we've never really gotten the chance to get to know each other and so much has changed since we spoke last that it's like we'll be meeting for the first time."
He shrugged and looked sheepish "It's the only thing I can come up with."
Rebecca smiled "I think it sounds perfect. I know that Harry's big on starting over to clear the past. Would you wait here for a moment?"
He nodded as she got up and went out the door for a minute. He saw her wave through the glass and then wait. A moment later a messy raven haired teen stepped up and spoke to her then gave her a hug that lasted a minute before the both of them came through the door.
Sure enough there was clapping for which the teen flourished an exaggerated bow before following Rebecca to the table.
Sirius smiled and held out his hand "Hi, I'm Sirius Black."
Harry looked at the hand then looked into his eyes before grabbing him in a hug. "It's nice to meet you."
Sirius held him tightly and choked out "It's nice to meet you too."
When they pulled apart Lisa was there and asked if he wanted tea too.
He smiled "I suppose all the biscuits are gone."
She grinned and nodded back as he shook his head "I'm glad the Vulture crowd's still around." He said loud enough for all of them to hear. Then turned back to the door and waved in the same direction that he had come from.
Rebecca's brow furrowed "What's that boy doing now?"
After a moment she recognized the receptionist from the clinic show up with another box that she handed to him then left as he came back in.
The box disappeared from his hand and a quick kiss hit his cheek as everyone gave a small cheer.
He chuckled "Vultures" And returned to the table being seated between Tonks and his Mum.
"You baked more?" Rebecca asked him.
He shrugged "I was kind of nervous so I made three more boxes."
Tonks looked surprised "What happened to the other two?"
He smiled "I think I got lucky to get out of the clinic without losing a hand to all those teeth. I had to protect the last box with my life. Now I have to bake a box for them every morning too, they threatened me with involuntary surgery if I didn't deliver. I did tell them they'd have to work out a deal with Conner as of the first though; I don't think he'd like me just giving them away after that."
A plate appeared only to have two disappear almost before it hit the table. The four of them looked up to see Lisa and Sirius chewing with smiles.
"Are you sure you're not drugging these things?" Rebecca asked as she took one and sniffed it.
He shrugged again "I never thought they were that good, I never got to eat any of them but I was never complimented either. I found the recipe in a cook book put together by first graders in school for a fund raiser."
Tonks stared at him "First graders?"
"Yeah, one year they wanted to take a field trip so they made up cook books with their parents and sold them to get the money for it. The school library had a copy that I read."
All five of the others stared at him "What, it looked like a good recipe."
Sirius laughed "I'd say it is, between these and this tea I don't think I want to leave here."
"Oh that reminds me." he looked at Lisa "Can you tell Conner that he'll need a way to keep tea warm for the clinic? I kind of told them that the biscuits would be a package deal with it after the first. They promise to return the boxes and whatever he comes up with for the tea the next day when they get that order so he'll need enough for two days."
"I'll let him know." She said as she snagged another and disappeared into the kitchen.
Harry looked at Sirius "How have you been?"
"I'm getting better everyday. How about you?"
He smiled "I'm getting better everyday too."
Sirius looked at Rebecca "Can I ask him about Sunday?"
She nodded.
He took a breath "Harry, I've never been to see your parents graves, I'm going on Sunday and was wondering if all of you would like to come with me."
"You know where they're buried?" he asked quietly.
"I found out a couple of weeks ago. I know the area, or at least I knew it back when. I'd like it if you were there the first time I visited."
His Mum and Tonks both had their arms around him and he had some tears in his eyes as he nodded. "I'd like to see them. I don't even know where they are."
"They're in Godric's Hollow, from what I'm told there's even a memorial for them that is only visible to…" he looked around a little then laughed "I guess it's a little late to worry about secrecy isn't it. There's a memorial that only our kind can see."
"Really? Why hasn't anyone mentioned it before?"
"I don't know, I found out from Kingsley who had been by there as a teenager, but no one else seemed to want to talk about it. I have a feeling that Dumbledore was stopping it."
Tonks let out a small curse. "That man just didn't know what the hell he was doing did he."
"At one time he probably did." Harry said quietly.
Andromeda cleared her throat "Let's get away from that topic shall we?"
Tonks smiled "How about food? It's almost lunch time."
"Why don't we all go back to our place and see if Harry can whip up some lunch while I tell him how many dinners he has to cook to thank people?"
A/N: I only had one more chapter planned for this story that kind of wrapped up everyone's current lives followed by an epilog that happened on Harry's 17/18 birthday. That was the original reason for the new birth certificate, to allow him to come of age in both worlds at the same time. The epilog would have left plenty of room to pick the story up again if I had more come to me that I wanted to tell.
Now thanks to a lot of you who have been reviewing, I have more to tell. Thank you.
Since I'm working without an outline now the updates may be a little farther apart than they have been but I'll try to keep them to at least one a week if not every other week.
Right now I see about ten more chapters before I wrap it up because the next portion of the tale would be a few years into the future.
I've read several comments about how some of you would go with this so I'm going to give a challenge which I'll also post on my profile page.
The rules are:
Harry has to give up magic by the time he's 17. Not just give up on the magical world but give up using it all together.
It has to start the summer after Goblet of Fire.
Keep it clean sex wise. I have nothing against lemons and have found several stories here that I've really enjoyed that contain them, but for this challenge please keep it clean. He can curse all he wants; I would curse nonstop if I was him.
That's the rules; you can have whoever you want be good or bad and have any pairings that you want. If you take this challenge please let me know by using the "Send Message" link at the top of my profile page so that I can find them and enjoy them too.
One last thing; I have a pairing that came to mind along about chapter 14 as I reread the whole thing this weekend. You should see it coming in the next few chapters.
Thanks again for reading and reviewing.
