Chapter 22 – Normality

Remus felt guilty. He'd been awfully cruel to Sirius when they'd argued. There was no reason for his outburst. He could blame it on the wolf within him, but that wouldn't be right, would it? After all, he had no right to control Sirius; it wasn't like the man belonged to him. Remus shook his head. He'd just been scared that Sirius would get an idea in his head and then take off, leaving Remus and Harry behind. It wouldn't have been the first time. He needn't have worried though, Sirius had been right when he said that Harry was everything to him. That much was obvious when Remus saw them together. He still wasn't completely pleased with the idea of Sirius having a girlfriend, but if he was going to, Remus was glad that it was someone he knew.

"REMUS! Are you coming?" Sirius' shout interrupted Remus' thoughts.

"Don't get your wand in a knot. I'm coming" Remus shouted back already beginning to walk down the stairs. Harry and Sirius were both waiting at the bottom of the stairs, both laden with presents. It was Christmas Eve and Molly had invited them all for dinner. Sirius had brought all 9 of the Weasleys Christmas presents and it was these that Harry and Sirius were both trying to hold.

"Floo or Apparation Moony?"

"Er…Apparation? Then one of us can take Harry" Remus answered. Sirius grinned and handed Remus the presents that he'd been holding, leaving his arms free to hold Harry. How typical.

"What about Jethro? We can't just leave him here alone" Harry asked quietly, watching Jethro circle Sirius' legs excitedly. Remus sighed, Harry was right. They would be gone for a few hours and there was no way they could leave the puppy on his own. He shared a quick glance with Sirius and made his decision.

"We'll have to take him and hope that Molly doesn't mind too much. He'll probably sleep for most of the evening anyway"

"Merry Christmas Molly! We come bearing gifts," Sirius announced as soon as Molly opened the door.

Remus snorted. "By we he means me"

Molly laughed and stepped back to let them all in. It was chaos on the other side of the door. Red headed children were everywhere, so many that it was difficult to count. They kept moving! However, they all froze when they spotted Remus, who shifted awkwardly. He hadn't exactly set a good example last time, he'd spent most of the evening bleating about how their pet rat was actually a wizard.

"I hope you don't mind Molly, but we had to –"

Sirius' apology was cut off by Ron's shout of "Harry!". Harry wriggled slightly in Sirius' arms, who put him down slightly wistfully. Harry looked up at Remus, who smiled and handed him Jethro's lead, before the little boy began proudly talking about Jethro to Ron and Ginny. Remus smiled, he almost seemed like a perfectly normal child until he glanced up to Sirius, apparently checking that he was doing the right thing. Sirius nodded and smiled reassuringly at Harry.

"Who are those presents for?" One of the twins asked curiously.

"George! You can't ask that" Molly's scolding voice seemed to come out of nowhere. It made Remus feel guilty, he almost felt like he should confess to everything he'd done at Hogwarts.

"Why not? They are presents, and they have to be for somebody" George replied logically.

Remus felt a grin form on his lightly scarred face. "You are correct George. There's one for all of you, to open tomorrow" Remus felt like he needed to add that on the end, a mischievous glint had appeared in George's eye. "Can you show me where to put them?"

Fred and George both nodded and led him to the Christmas tree, helping him to arrange the presents. Sirius had nearly wept with delight when he realised that there were six young boys for him to buy presents for. He'd gone out and bought nearly everything that he would have wanted if he were still a child. Harry and Remus had both found his joy rather funny.

"When do you start at the auror department Sirius?" Arthur's voice drifted down the stairs. The four adults wandered into the lounge, leaving Harry, Ron and Ginny in the hall with Jethro.

"They've managed to find me a place in the current class, so I start in January"

Remus sighed. He wasn't sure that Sirius going back to the auror office was such a great idea. Yes, it was what he wanted, but he hadn't long been out of Azkaban and Remus didn't know if he would manage. He'd already been severely injured on the course of the job – twice, and Remus didn't know if he could survive a third. Where would that leave them then? Harry would have to go back to the Dursleys and Remus would well and truly be alone, this time without the knowledge of there being one other marauder. He'd tried telling Sirius this, but the stupid man had just laughed Remus' fears off. When Sirius got an idea in his head, it could honestly be said that he ran with it. It was that stupidity that had led him to Azkaban last time, and Remus couldn't make him change that, no matter what he tried. Remus shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking of that, Christmas Eve should be a happy day, a day for family. And now he had one.

"Molly, this is amazing. I don't think I've eaten something this nice since Hogwarts" Sirius remarked happily.

"That's 'cause mummy is g'eat cook" Ginny answered slowly, as if she thought that Sirius were being stupid to even consider the opposite. Remus stifled a laugh and saw Arthur try to hide his grin by placing a large piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Oh, thank you very much dears. Fred! Stop trying to give Ron your carrots" Molly admonished sharply. Fred muttered something to himself angrily, but at least had the good grace to look sheepish.

"If only there had been someone like that at school"

Sirius scowled, "I still think that was a conspiracy. I think you all snuck peas on to my plate, I was merely giving them back"

Remus snorted, "Why would we bother sneaking peas on to your plate? We had far more important things to do"

"Well, how did the peas get onto my plate then? Because I never touched the peas, and yet they always ended up on my plate"

"Give us some credit Sirius. That would be a pathetic joke, we weren't that stupid"

"Could've fooled me"

"Says the man who was hit on the head nearly every Quidditch match"

"You were on the quidditch team?" Charlie asked. Remus suddenly remembered that they weren't alone and that Harry and the four youngest Weasleys had been sniggering at them for the entire conversation. Remus felt a dull blush creep up his face. Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius launched into telling Charlie just about every memory he had from quidditch.

"So, Remus, Scabbers wasn't really a rat then?" Percy asked quietly. Remus froze, he felt as though he'd just swallowed a brick. This was why he hadn't been so keen on sitting next to Percy. He'd have to explain it to the eight year old though, to the best of his ability. Bugger.

"No Percy, he was a wizard – one that did something very bad a few years ago. He was hiding, and because he was hiding people thought that he was dead. They also thought that Sirius was the one who did it, so he was arrested and taken to Azkaban. But I found out the truth, and now he's in prison and Sirius is free" Remus finished and glanced over at Percy. His mouth was open and he was staring at Remus in disbelief.

"How did you know? That it was him, I mean"

Bugger. This conversation was straying awfully close to subjects he didn't really want to discuss. But Percy didn't mean any harm by it, he was obviously just curious. After all, wouldn't most people be if their pet rat was suddenly revealed to be a wizard. "I knew because I recognised him, we were at school together. I'd seen him become a rat before"

Bill leant over from Remus' other side. "So, is he the one that killed all those poor Muggles? The one's that everyone thought Sirius killed?"

Remus was dimly aware of Sirius reacting to the sound of his name. He wasn't sure if it was wise to tell Percy that his rat had actually been a mass murderer, but he couldn't exactly leave him with the knowledge that Sirius was a convicted murderer. He glanced over at Arthur, who apparently had managed to overhear their conversation from the other end of the table. He looked conflicted but he nodded slowly, obviously telling Remus to tell them the truth.

"Yes he was. Sirius went after him and he blew the street up to escape, leaving Sirius to be arrested" Remus was almost whispering by the time he finished explaining. He hadn't ever wanted to talk about that day again, and yet here he was, trying to explain it to an eight year old and a fourteen year old. Thoughts of that day had haunted him for three years, infesting his nightmares and his waking thoughts. He fervently hoped that Bill and Percy would leave the conversation there. It appeared that Bill had more questions though.

"Why did Sirius go after Pettigrew? I thought you were friends at school?"

Remus stared at Bill. He did not want to answer that. Especially not when Harry was sat opposite Harry and could most likely hear every word that they were saying. He couldn't blame Bill for his curiosity, but he still wished that the boy would shut up. Remus opened his mouth, but then closed it again, unsure of how to dodge the conversation. Molly saved him the trouble.

"Who wants pudding? I've made trifle" Remus had never eaten at the Weasley's before, but he'd heard good things about Molly's cooking. What he'd heard about her cooking was right, the trifle was amazing. Though he did have to stifle a laugh when he looked up, Ginny didn't seem to have eaten the trifle, she seemed to have preferred to spread the trifle all over her little face.

"That's not a good look" George stated. Fred nodded furiously, apparently agreeing with him. Sirius didn't possess the same restraint as Remus and he laughed along with the twins and Ron.

"Don't be horrible boys" Arthur admonished calmly, already wiping the trifle off the little girls face. After trifle the twelve of them all walked into the lounge, somehow all managing to find somewhere to sit.

Remus smiled. Sirius was playing chess with Bill, Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins were playing with Jethro, Percy was reading and Charlie was talking to his father about something. This was what a family was meant to look like. The Potter's could have looked like this, if they'd been given the chance. Harry would have had a normal childhood if Voldemort hadn't happened. But, they were here now, enjoying a slice of familial normality. They were safe, happy and together; and really that's all that mattered.

AN: Hi guys! I know this is up early, but I've had this one written for quite a while and I couldn't wait til Wednesday :D

I have a problem. My inspiration for writing young Harry seems to have evaporated. So we now have two choices: I can leave this story open and hope that my inspiration comes back in the future, or I can say that Chapter 25 will be the end of this story. Either way, I want to crack on with my take on the books, I have so many ideas! I just thought I'd ask if you guys think I should start a new story, or cut the story off after 25 and start with the books, all in the same story.

I'm inclined at the moment to start a new story, but then of course I will need to come up with a name, and my mind is coming up blank on that one. But anyway, please let me know what you think I should do. Your opinion means a lot to me :)