"Are you sure this is wise?" Severus asked with the air of a man who knew he was fighting a losing battle.
Albus looked at him intently, "Not in the slightest but we both know they'll find a way around it and at least this way we remain slightly in control."
Remus and Sirius had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.
"Very well," Severus sighed. "I expect to be told when Black owls with information, Miss Granger."
She nodded before watching him sweep out of the room. Remus and Sirius took it as their cue to disillusion themselves quietly, while Theo hid himself under the cloak again.
"Be very careful," Albus cautioned as they moved to leave his office. "There are often eyes where one least expects them."
"Of course, Sir," Harry murmured, glancing nervously at Hermione. They walked silently in the direction of the children's rooms, attempting to not look suspicious as people milled around them. Harry's grip on Hermione's hand was tight, both of them terrified that someone would bump into one of the others, becoming even more scared when the crowds began to thin out. All it would take was one person to question why they were heading off into an unused corridor and they'd be put in an uncomfortable position with more than one Weasley.
All of them let out a sigh of relief when they reached the portrait and climbed through.
"Malfoy!" Harry stopped abruptly causing everyone else to bump into him.
"Potter." Draco sneered back.
"Enough!" Hermione glared at them both. "Your children are here, it's time to grow up! Harry, Draco is helping. Draco…Harry also intends to help. Do not make me hex you!"
Draco's eyebrows shot up at the genuine flash of fear that shot across Harry's face when she pointed her wand at him. The twins and James barely repressed their laughs.
"It's nice that some things are consistent, don't you think?" James asked nonchalantly.
Alex snorted. "To be fair, he has good reason to fear her wand. Do you remember that time our mum and yours teamed up?"
"I'm pretty sure Dad still has nightmares about it." James laughed before his jaw dropped. "Uncle Pads! Uncle Moony!"
Ophelia turned sharply at his greeting before she launched herself at Sirius who despite his surprise managed to catch her. "You look like you!" she sobbed. "You're the only one who really looks like you."
Sirius's eyes softened with understanding. "You mean I remain this handsome, Mini-Kitten? Good to know."
She let out a strangled laugh that was half sob. "That's what you've always called me, how did you know?"
Sirius laughed, "I didn't, but you look like a mini Kitten, so I went with it."
Hermione looked like she was fighting tears next to Theo who was watching his daughter hug Lord Black with a blank expression.
"Let's sit down, shall we?" Remus suggested, his eyes darting around the room, taking in each of the players.
Theo immediately pulled Hermione onto a sofa, Alex settling himself on her other side, Harry and James squashing themselves into the small space beside him. Remus rolled his eyes, enlarging the sofa pointedly making Harry flush. Draco sat with Scorpius and Cassius watching them warily as Ophelia curled herself into Sirius' side.
"Right, so, I gather some of you know us but perhaps you'll indulge me and introduce yourselves." He smiled slightly as they did so, his heart giving a slightly painful squeeze at the proud proclamation of "James Potter," from the boy who looked so very like his namesake. "Right, why don't you tell us something interesting?" he ventured, a slight hint of amusement on his face before he zeroed in on a startled Scorpius.
"Me?" The boy squeaked.
"Why not?" Remus shrugged, smiling slightly as the boy began to speak. The kids would need each other while they were here, maybe he could help strengthen some of those bridges they'd been forced to build. And maybe, he could convince some of their parents to build some bridges of their own.
"Kitten? A word?" Sirius cut through the conversation several hours later, all of them full from dinner, the house elves having clearly been informed of their presence. Hermione's eyes flew to him before she nodded.
"Can we borrow your room for a moment?" With her eyes darting between her mother and Uncle, Ophelia nodded slowly. She caught Theo stiffening out of the corner of her eye.
"Out with it," Hermione commanded once the door shut behind them. Sirius looked at her, running his hand through his hair.
"Kitten." he began softly, "You know that we'll support you whatever you decide to do, right?"
She nodded slowly, not really sure where he was heading with this. "Kitten, that story….I asked the kids, they added some bits….I…I know you think you love him now but the man they said he became." he trailed off looking at her pleadingly. "He still has the capacity to be that man. And I know we all sort of discussed murder, but….he's very sure it's a route he's willing to go down, Kitten and that worries me."
"It worries me too," she replied softly. "But, it worries me more that I'm not sure I disagree with him. Pads, I can't live that life, not now I know it's a possibility. I can understand how it creeps up on you but to walk into it willingly is madness. I….I can't pretend that I'm ok with not having the twins though, you've met them." she made a helpless gesture towards the door letting out a humourless laugh, "Gods how could I not want them? And I do love him. I know what you're saying, I know that things change but….it feels right. And that's all I've really got to go on at the moment."
Sirius sighed, pulling her into a hug, attempting to marshal his thoughts. The day's storytime had rattled him more than he wanted to admit. He loved this girl like family, she was family. Not quite a daughter, her own parents filled that role well. A niece perhaps? The closest he was ever going to get to one anyway. Thoughts of how her life turned out made him want to vomit. And let loose some of the darker impulses that he constantly fought against. It terrified him that he might not be able to help, that maybe he'd let her down and history would repeat itself. If he was honest, he wanted to take her out of the country for the next twenty years, far far away from Theodore Nott, his father and Lucius bloody Malfoy, to ensure it could not. It was an instinct he was struggling to fight.
"Kitten, you know that there's no guarantee you'll get them?" he murmured into her hair, not daring to look at her. She stiffened in his arms. "If we change things," he continued, "You might not get them, you might get twins, you might not, they may be completely different, they're likely to be completely different, their entire life will change." He hugged her tighter as he felt her sob, his own heart hurting as he listened to hers break.