It was a rather rainy day in Rome and Lupa and Remus were in their nursery playing hide and seek. Lupa was currently hunting for her brother. Despite only being a year and a half old, Remus was rather good at the game. Being small enough to hide in places that Lupa couldn't helped.

Lupa had just knelt down next to the gap between two bookcases to see if Remus was in there when the nursery door opened. Mildly curious, Lupa looked over her shoulder to see who it was and froze. Standing in the doorway looking much the same as they had the last time she had seen them, were her parents. Lupa hadn't been entirely sure that they even knew where the nursery was. Obviously they did.

"Mother, Father, what brings you here?" She asked.

Remus poked his head out from behind their toy chest to see who she was talking to and Lupa swiftly made her way over to him. It probably would have been best if she had remained where she was as that would have kept their parents' attention on her and away from Remus. But Lupa wasn't sure how Remus would react to seeing their parents. As far as she could recall, they had never once visited the boy.

As expected, neither John nor Mary paid the slightest bit of attention to their son. Instead, they focused on their daughter.

"Your father and I had something we wanted to share with you." Mary said brightly.

Lupa winced at the false note in her mother's voice. Whatever it was that they wanted to tell her, it wasn't good. The last time her mother used that voice, she had tried to convince her to give Remus away. Needless to say that hadn't gone over very well.

"What?" She asked warily.

"We're moving to England." John said cheerfully, as if announcing that there would be a play in the square the next day.

"What?" Lupa said flatly.

John and Mary's smiles became even more forced. Clearly they had been hoping that Lupa wouldn't be so difficult about this. After all, it would be a chance for her to explore new places and make new friends.

"We're moving to a lovely little town called Oxford. It's said to be very peaceful and quite. You'll have plenty of room to run around and play." Mary said.

"That's right." John said. "Lots of fields where you can pick flowers and play with the new friends you'll make there."

Lupa's eyes hardened at that. She may have only been six, but she was smart enough to recognize when her parents were trying to separate her from her brother. Still, Lupa hesitated before flat out protesting against it. It might be good for Remus if they moved. A new village meant a place where adults didn't know that the elder Lupin's despised their youngest child and the other children didn't mock her brother and call him mean names. Remus might not be old enough to understand what the other children were saying, but he was smart enough to recognize the mean and mocking tone the children used when he was around. It broke Lupa's heart every time they went out to the market and she saw the tears in his eyes. Perhaps moving would be best.

"Fine." Lupa sighed at last. "But only if you find a big house with a big yard. Remus and I want plenty of room to run and play."

John and Mary's faces took on slightly bitter looks at the mention of Remus but weren't stupid enough to say anything about him. They correctly guessed that if they said anything about or against him then Lupa would change her mind in a heartbeat. So they said nothing.

"Of course we'll have a big house and yard." Mary promised.

"Absolutely." John agreed. "You need plenty of room to run and stretch your legs. We'll see what we find when we get there. In the meantime, you'll want to start packing. We leave in a month."

With that announcement, John and Mary took their leave. Lupa heaved a sigh of relief that they hadn't said a word about Remus and that Remus had behaved himself and stayed next to her.

"Well, mio fratello, it looks like we're moving." She said with a smile.

Remus gave her one of his charming baby smiles. "Lu." He said.

"What do you want now, a story?" Lupa asked, smile growing.

Remus nodded eagerly and toddled over to the bookshelf where his chubby hands struggled to pull out a book. Lupa followed him and pulled the book out for him.

"This one?" She asked looking at the cover. "Again?"

Remus nodded, pointing at the book and babbling something incomprehensible.

"Alright. Come on then."

The siblings made their way over to the pile of cushions and sat down. Lupa opened the book and began to read.

OoO

If Lucille had known to expect it, she would have made sure that Sirius was presentable when his parents found them playing outside, enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun. But she hadn't been expecting and Sirius was a muddy mess when his parents paid their surprise visit. To be fair, Sirius was only a year and a half old and like any other child his age, he loved running around outside and exploring. And that usually resulted in dirty clothes.

Lucille hadn't even known they were there until she happened to glance up from her morning paper and saw her employers standing in the shade of the house surveying the scene. Sirius noticed his parents at the same time she did and stopped playing immediately.

"Mother. Father." He said respectfully, which was an achievement for someone as muddy as he was.

Lucille watched her employers anxiously, wondering if she and possibly Sirius were about to get into trouble regarding the state of his clothes. As she watched, Lucille saw an unmistakable smile flash across Orion's face. It was only there a moment, but long enough that she could see it. Orion looked oddly pleased at finding his son and heir in this state.

"Lord Black, I apologize for the state of your son's clothes." Lucille apologized.

Orion waved a dismissive hand in her direction. Walburga's lips thinned but she said nothing. Sirius was still watching his parents warily. The very first lesson he had learned as soon as he had been old enough was that he was not to speak to his parents unless spoken to first. He was only allowed to break that rule if there was an emergency.

"Sirius, your mother has something important she wants to tell you." Orion announced.

Sirius still said nothing but expectantly turned towards his mother. Judging by the look on Walburga's face, she wasn't happy at being forced to share this news. Perhaps she had been hoping Orion would instead. Walburga wasn't a fool though. She knew better than to argue with her husband in front of her son.

"I have been to see the doctor." Walburga said.

"Are you alright, mother?" Sirius asked.

Walburga nodded and for the first time, Lucille caught a hint of pleasure flash across the woman's face.

"The doctor has told me that I am expecting a baby. You will have a brother or a sister."

Sirius' face lit up. Lucille knew that he was excited about that. He had often said that he wanted a little sibling. Sirius had once told her all of the things he would teach his sibling and all of the games they would play together. It was cute.

"When?" Sirius asked eagerly, his child side showing through.

"In nine months." Walburga answered.

There was finality in her tone and Orion noticed it. He recognized that his wife was done talking and wisely decided that perhaps they should leave before she became too irritated. Gently taking her by the arm, he made to lead her from the yard.

Sirius watched his parents leave with the same blank look on his face that he had when he first noticed that they were there. As soon as they were gone, he turned to Lucille with a bright smile on his face.

"I'm going to be a big brother." He announced.

Lucille smiled. "Yes. You are."

That was all the encouragement Sirius needed to launch into an explanation of all the things he would teach the baby.

AN: Surprise! I am still alive. I'm sorry I haven't updated the story in the last few weeks. It seems my train of thought decided to pull into 'Spring Break Station' a week early. I've had to track down all of the characters (and not just the ones for this story) and get them back on the train before the train would leave the station. It helps that I made a rough outline for this story and now have an idea what each chapter is supposed to contain.

On the bright side, I do hope to have the next two chapters up later today. Tomorrow at the latest. That will bring the story to the point where it should be today.

In the meantime, how have your last few weeks been?