Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched, expecting a second round to the brawl. Molly decided to try and keep the peace.
"Ughh, good morning Sirius. Come, help yourself to some fresh coffee." She stuttered.
Sirius's hateful glare faded a bit and he nodded.
"Morning Molly, don't mind if I do." Sirius entered the kitchen, walking rather close to the back of Snape's head. He paused on his way to the coffee maker and wrung his hands behind Snape, pretending to strangle him. Harry smirked. The he greeted Harry warmly.
"Good morning Harry and friends." He said with the loving smile Harry had longed to see since he had arrived at Grimmauld Place.
The three chimed good morning and Sirius began pouring himself a cup of coffee, only to be interrupted by Snape's snarky voice.
Somehow, as if he had eyes in the back of his head (which no one would put past him) he had realized the mischief done behind his head. Harry's troublesome smirk only confirmed this.
"I see you are rather interested in the paper, Black." Snape said in his silkiest voice, his back still turned to Sirius. "Being that you are stuck in your mother's house you must be eager to know of the outside world and…" Snape took a moment to clear his throat. "feel involved."
Sirius put his coffee cup down with a thud. He wiped a hand across his forehead and then gripped the edges of the counter tightly. By the way his nails were digging in to the wood everyone could tell he was trying to restrain his anger. He turned around suddenly and crossed his arms, resting his chin on a clenched fist. He wore a façade of stone, but his eyes glittered giving away the rage inside.
"You know Severus, I really do enjoy reading the paper. It's how I keep up to date on the war. My favorite part is on page 5, where they list the newly captured Death Eaters. I wonder if you recognize any old chums."
Severus snorted and rustled the pages. "Actually Black, I do recognize someone…" He started. "On the wanted page, right here." Snape turned around and pointed to a mug shot of Sirius Black. His raven hair was a mess and flying in all directions. His grey eyes were sullen with looming black shadows beneath them. Most unpleasant of all was his mouth, open and frozen in a horrific scream.
Sirius stiffened, remembering in horror of his awful time in Azkaban.
Snape went on, pleased by the reaction his comment had brought. "Oh, forgive me. I didn't realize it was you. They must have taken this picture of you on a good day; your appearance on any other is nothing short of Serpico mixed with stray dog. Do tell me, have the fleas gotten any better?"
Sirius had heard enough. He began to approach Snape, ready for the kill. "Why you… you.." He practically hissed as he held an admonishing finger at Snape's face. His opposite hand began to fumble in his pocket for his wand. Seeing this, Harry jumped up.
"Sirus.." Harry said quietly, looking kindly into his godfathers face. "Will you join me in your study, for a moment… I really need to talk to you… like now."
Sirius relaxed a bit and nodded. "I understand, lets go."
As Sirius was leading Harry out he flicked his wand in the air. Snape's scalding hot cup of coffee tipped over and drenched his lap. Snape leapt out of his seat in pain. "YOUCH!" He cried, gripping his burnt thighs. Sirius began to chuckle and shut the door quickly, in just enough time to miss one of Snape's hexes that left a burn mark on the kitchen door.
Hary and Sirius chuckled as they entered the dimly lit study. The ancient floorboards croaked out a symphony under their feet. Books bound in rich silver and sapphire glimmered on the shelves. A dusty chandelier hanging from the ceiling sent out dancing little stars as Sirius lit a lamp. The he collapsed back into a cozy sofa and motioned for Harry to sit beside him. Harry joined him on the couch.
Harry began to speak. "Sirius, I.. you.." he sighed. "I really don't want to see you out of the Order. This is only time we get to be together. You shouldn't let him get to you, he's an awful git and not worth your time."
Sirius slid his hand around Harry's shoulders. "I'm sorry Harry. That's the last bit of trouble I'll seek to cause with him. I look forward to seeing you, you remind me so much of your parents." Sirius gave Harry a paternal smile, the kind that always made Harry feel at peace.
"Besides, he of all people shouldn't insult you on your looks." Harry whispered.
The two laughed heartily. Sirius gave Harry a pat on the back. Sirius raised himself from the couch and looked through a few books on the shelf. He pulled out a wide brown book with golden writing. 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Class of 1978'.
"At times like this, when all things seem dark, it brings me joy to look back into the past. Back when we were growing up and had dreams, hopes, friendships that we hoped would last forever.." He blew dust off of a page. "I can go back to a place where I was happy and life was good. Then, the darkness goes away a little bit. This book brings me back to that place." Sirius said hungrily flipping through pages.
Sirius joined Harry on the couch and handed him the book. He pointed to a faded photograph of four boys. One was stubby, another was extremely handsome. Another seemed shy and friendly. The boy at the end was good looking with messy black hair.
"That's us." Sirius whispered. "Peter, Me, Remus, and your father."
Harry looked down into the photo and examined his father's young face. Harry could see the strong resemblance that they shared. A smile spread across his face. How he wished he could have known him… Harry turned a few pages and found a multitude of pictures of the marauders. He came across one in which his father was hugging a very beautiful woman. Their faces were frozen there, smiling widely, without a care in the world.
"Is that my mother?" Harry asked sheepishly. Sirius nodded.
"Yes, that's her. How beautiful she was Harry. Smart, talented, kind. Her loss is one most tragic to my heart."
Eager to find more pictures of his mother, Harry flipped through the pages greedily. He found one that utterly confused him. There in the yellowing picture stood his mother, looking a few years younger than in the last picture. Her long hair was draped across her shoulders and she showed off a lovely smile. But standing next to her with his arm around her shoulder was a tall, lanky boy no older than sixteen. He had long dark hair that didn't look very clean. His coal black eyes clashed with his sickly skin tone. Harry wondered who in the world this was, he had apparently been close with his mother. The boy's identity was given away by his large hooked nose. Harry opened his mouth in shock; the boy with his arm around Lilly was none other than a young Severus Snape.
"MY MUM DATED HIM!" Harry gasped. How could his lovely mother ever associate with that creep?
"No, no. They never dated, but they were best friends since they were children. Then Snape showed an interest in joining the death eaters and got caught up with all kinds of nasty people. He called your mum a nasty word once in fifth year and she called their friendship quits. Then Lilly and James got together, and well, he was always jealous of James. Anyway, he came to look down on her because she was muggleborn." Sirius explained.
Harry was shocked. "I never knew. What did they even have in common?"
Sirius shrugged. "I suppose they had a lot in common as children, but children grow up Harry. People change."
Harry wondered why the potions master never mentioned her. He loved to remind Harry about how terrible his father was, but never criticized his mother. Harry pondered this, but could not find an answer to why this was. Harry's train of thought was ruined when Remus opened the door and told them to come in for breakfast. As Harry was walking out, Hermione grabbed his arm.
"Goss, Hermione. What is it?" Harry said rather startled.
"Sorry to surprise you Harry, but I need to talk to you." She said letting go of his arm.
"Go on." Said Harry.
"Well, Ron and I were going to join you two but when the conversation got deep we didn't want to intrude, so we listened at the door.. Sirius sounded so happy talking about his school days… and he and Snape went to the same school…"
Harry cocked his head. "Where are you going with this?"
Hermione sighed. "If either one is going to stay in the Order they need to find some common ground. If they both really loved Hogwarts then maybe if we can dig a little deeper and get them talking then.."
Harry interrupted her. "They'll get along! Brilliant idea Hermione, but there's one problem. They hated each other in school, so if the conversation drifts in that direction then someone's going to be dragged out in a body bag."
"It's worth a try, Harry. And as long as we can keep them talking about the positive things then maybe they can at least be civil."
Harry nodded in agreement. "Okay, but just to make things clear I'm not talking to Snape."
Hermione gulped. "I guess I'd better volunteer, it is my idea. But for now let's go eat, Molly has made some lovely waffles. And if we hurry there might be a donut left."
The two giggled as they made their way into the crowded kitchen.