I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

An extra post today to help a reader smile. Also it's been a while since I updated every day in a week. Hope all are doing well and have a lovely weekend.

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Extended Family

Chapter 113 – Whiskey Business

Takes place around chapter 108.

"Who's call sound is that?" Katie asked, giggling uproariously. The sound of musical barking, dog not owl, filled the air and it was set to a jaunty seasonal tune.

"Amelia's," Harry smiled as he took out his mirror. "I'll explain later. Hi Amelia, how are you?"

"Hello Harry," Amelia's mirror image said warmly. "I'm okay, how are you?"

"Oh not too bad. Relaxing a bit." He grinned at little Dahlia's eager waving and turned the mirror to show her to Amelia. "Say hi, Dally."

"Hi gran-meelah!" Dally squealed, waving both arms.

"Hi Dally!" Amelia shouted back, waving her hand energetically as well. "Are you being a good girl?"

"No!" Dahlia shouted cheerfully.

"Oh?" Amelia said, wrong-footed.

"She is," Katie laughed. "She just likes to shout no right now to any question."

"Gosh, further cementing the idea that Aurors are essentially children," Amelia said dryly, making Harry and Katie snort.

"I'm telling Dora," Harry grinned.

"I got her a sugar quill the other day and transfigured it to look like a pacifier because she was whining at me over something," Amelia snorted. "And she ate it that way, walked around the office with it."

"Yeah, that sounds like her," Harry laughed.

"Anyways, speaking of children," Amelia started. "Wait no not that!" she said hurriedly at Katie's gasp and Harry's look of surprise. "Not me!"

"Aww," Katie said.

"I'm not ready yet and neither is Sirius," Amelia said. "But I am referring to him as a child in this case."

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, worried.

"He's been a bit down lately," Amelia said softly. "Not like, too upset or anything, but he's been a little aimless I guess. The Wizengamot is heading into an extended recess and there isn't a lot of need for him in International Co-op. I think he's getting a bit bored and not being too fulfilled or something like that."

"That doesn't sound good," Harry said.

"It's not too bad yet, but I can tell he's been a bit apathetic. I'm trying to help him find a hobby or something but my work is pretty chaotic you know and I'm about to go into some longer days with some reviews we're doing and I have to do some personnel restructuring."

She looked at Harry directly. "Do you mind talking to him or something? I normally wouldn't ask and I know he wouldn't want me to, but I want him happy and if you don't mind helping, I'd appreciate it."

"Of course. I'm in my lull time from the League so I can spend more time with him and help him figure something out," Harry said firmly.

Amelia released a sigh of relief. "Thanks Harry." She and Katie and Harry made plans to meet for dinner together and the mirror shimmered, her image disappearing and reflecting Harry and Katie and Dahlia once more.

"I hope it's nothing serious," Katie said, bouncing Dahlia up and down on her leg.

"I don't think so, I think Amelia would tell us if it were. He's probably just needing something to occupy his time with or something like that," Harry said thoughtfully. He smiled when Dahlia wriggled out of Katie's lap and crawled to him. He picked her up and settled her comfortably against him. "Worst comes to worst, we can throw Dally at him."

"She makes everyone happy," Katie agreed. "So about that song?"

"Oh right! Last Christmas holiday season, Sirius was out with the Grangers and he thought this thing with dogs barking Jingle Bells was hilarious and when Amelia wanted her own call sound, he volunteered himself barking it."

"That's hilarious," Katie smiled. "But why for her?"

"Because she's a Bones and he's a dog and he's barking for bones," Harry laughed.

"I bet she loved that," Katie said, her laughter joining his.

-0-

"Okay, I might need to exercise more," Sirius panted, sitting down with a grunt.

"You chased Dahlia for a long time," Harry grinned, handing him a glass of firewhiskey.

"And I had the benefit of a dog's energy and double the legs," Sirius laughed. He sipped his drink.

"You're more than welcome to visit and exercise with Dally."

"Thanks, sometimes I sit on my arse for so long I feel like I need something to stay active."

"Speaking of staying active…"

Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not you too. Did Amelia put you up to this?"

"Maybe," Harry said. He flicked a drop of whiskey at the older man when he stuck his tongue out. "She's worried about you. Said you've been all lethargic and apathetic."

"I've been lazy! There's a difference," he protested. He sighed when Harry gave him a look. "Okay, maybe it's more than just being lazy. I don't know." He drank moodily.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked gently.

"No, not really." Sirius sighed again. "It's like…my life is fantastic right now. I'm married. I have you and Andy and Remus and everyone in my life. I'm making a difference on the Wizengamot. I'm traveling and making a difference for International Co-op. My life is great."

"But?"

"That's the thing, there shouldn't be a but!" Sirius slumped in his chair, looking up at the night sky. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm living the life, a life way better than one I ever imagined, even before things went to hell with the war. My absolute worst day right now is still a thousand times better than my best day in Azkaban. I should be happy."

He looked at Harry. "Why do I feel so…this?"

"Have you talked to your mind healer about this?" Harry asked.

"Not really. I've gone to him about specific things but not this general sense of…" he made a vague hand gesture. "blah. I guess."

"Shouldn't you talk to him about it?"

"I guess," Sirius sighed. "It feels vaguely entitled; you know? Like how dare I feel this way."

"Nothing wrong with it as far as I know, you can be in a good place but still feel off," Harry said.

"You can?"

"Sure, I get that way sometimes too," Harry said quietly. "Sometimes I wake up from a nightmare or I can be reminded of something and it brings me down."

"Fuck," Sirius said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it happens to everyone and you've had it rough too. Just saying, it makes sense to me," Harry said kindly. "I'm proud that you haven't drunk yourself into a stupor over it."

"Thanks. Yeah it's tempting once in a while but I've learned to drink for the taste and not the feeling and I don't like overdoing it anymore. Can't handle the after effects."

Harry smiled a little. "Getting older is tough, isn't it?"

"Hey, I'm not old," Sirius said, sitting up.

"I didn't say that, just that you're getting older." Harry's smile grew.

"I can still run and keep up with anyone!"

"I know."

"My hair is still luxuriously black, not a hint of grey and no dye or charm in it!"

"It looks great."

"I am the picture of male virility and youth while having a mature countenance!"

"Sure."

Sirius growled at Harry's laughter but then smiled and joined him. "You suck."

"Don't let Dally hear you say that."

"I know better. I said you had a broom stick up your arse once and she bit me on the arse." He laughed with Harry. "In hindsight, it was pretty funny."

"Hind sore too I bet." Harry sipped his drink while chuckling. "We just need to find you a hobby or something. Something to occupy you during slower times."

"That might not be bad," Sirius admitted.

"You like motorbikes, right?"

"Amelia said if I mess with them, I have to add copious safety charms and have to stay within the proscribed guidelines for enchantable things. Which takes some of the fun out of it," he snorted. "Then again, might be fun to try and figure out what I can get away with…"

"I'm not getting involved in that, she can throw me into prison," Harry snorted.

"She won't though. She knows she'll invite more trouble if she even thinks it. Not only will she get shellacked legally by Ted, she'll have a mutiny with Nymmie and Andy will do something terrible too."

"And Dally would be upset," Harry smiled.

"And she's quite worried about that," Sirius chuckled. "She's her first honorary godgranddaughter after all."

"Hmm, Fred and George can always use help as inventor and tester."

"True. I could golf more to take on Jean and McGonaMum." Sirius sipped his firewhiskey and stopped, looking at the glass. "Hey…that's it!"

"What? Making glasses?"

"What? No, the stuff inside. I can make alcohol!"

"Uh…personally?"

"Well not personally but maybe I can see how it's made and treat it like a hobby thing, start a distillery or something like that! That's a rich person thing, right?"

"You'd know more than me."

"Well I mean, lots of the old heads invest in vineyards and the like and while I'll never want to challenge the Ogden empire, might be fun to start a small line of tasty spirits and have some fun with that."

"As long as you don't oversample your product," Harry grinned.

"I won't, I learned that lesson. But I've always wondered how it's made and well, it could be fun."

"You just want to put your picture on the bottle so you can see people drink out of it, don't you," Harry accused with a teasing tone.

"You got me! Which do you think would sell more: me or Padfoot?"

"You're so narcissistic," Harry laughed.

"I always said I should have been called that instead of Narcissa," Sirius smiled. "Hey, Amelia, which would sell alcohol more: a picture of me or a picture of Padfoot?"

"Depends, if you want people to drink to forget your mug, then the former. If you want people to like the picture, the latter."

"My wife," Sirius sighed while Amelia and Harry laughed.

"Hey, I married you," she said, hugging him. "Why are we putting your picture on alcohol by the way?"

"Sirius wants to start a distillery."

"Oh? Better than a vineyard I suppose, there's plenty of those about and half of the big wig parties are people saying why their wine is better than the others. Mostly because no one wants to compete with Ogden."

"I'm not trying to either, but just have some fun and make something tasty," Sirius smiled.

"That sounds fun," Amelia said, kissing his cheek. "You have the money and the time to waste."

"Is this you being supportive? I honestly can't tell."

She sighed. "Yes, this is me being supportive."

"Excellent! Everyone thinks it's a good idea!"

"Wait, hold on, I didn't say that-"

"Time to spread the good news and to make plans! I need my thinking cap!" He left the rooftop garden of Grimmauld, with Dahlia lying over his shoulders and squealing with glee all the while.

"What's going on?" Katie asked when she walked over.

"Apparently Dahlia is a thinking cap, or maybe a stole or scarf," Harry smiled.

"I feel like she sucks all my thinking out of me," Katie laughed.

"Sirius wants to start a distillery now," Harry explained, "as a new hobby project thing and he somehow made it sound like Amelia said it was a good idea."

"And when it blows up, he'll say it's my fault," Amelia sighed.

"Let's hope it doesn't literally blow up," Katie grinned.

"Oh boy, something else to worry about," Amelia groaned.

-0-

"Wow, where are we?" Ron said, looking around.

A portkey had taken Ron, Harry, and Neville to a small place in the country. Rolling hills gamboled up and down the countryside with trees swaying in the wind here and there. The air was fresh and clean and the sound of moving water was pleasant to the ear.

"We're in Scotland, on a bit of land that belonged to the Blacks," Sirius said as he walked up to them with a big smile. "It's small and out of the way so it wasn't really used much until I got the idea to make the distillery here." He pointed to a collection of buildings made of grey rock and wooden roofs, also clean and fitting with the idyllic landscape.

"So I did some poking about and there was a family selling their equipment. The head of the family passed not too long ago and the descendants decided to break up their little operation and split the profits. Turns out, a part of the family wanted to keep working on the craft but couldn't afford it all on their own. So I paid for everything and hired them on. We moved everything here and we're going to be working together on our new brand and everything!"

Ron looked at Harry. "People with money are frightening."

"Yeah, seriously," Harry muttered back.

"No offense, but what are we doing here?" Neville asked, looking about the place with interest.

"Well, I want to do a line of whiskey but also want to do some gin and asked Harry what he thought. He said he would bring you two along as consultants and advisers and I'll pay handsomely of course for your expertise."

"You make me sound like a drunk or something," Ron complained, pushing Harry.

"You run a pub!" Harry exclaimed, pushing Ron back.

"Oh right."

"You dim prat."

"You're dim!"

Neville smiled as Ron and Harry pushed and shoved each other about. "But I don't and I don't drink that much really."

"No, but you know plants and things obviously and gin is infused liquor with juniper berries so I figured you could help," Harry said, voice slightly muffled since Ron had him in a headlock.

"Oh! Actually, yeah, I can do that." Neville looked at a beaming Sirius. "Are you wanting to do regular consumption gin or some magical infusions?"

"Yes! Whatever is fun and tastes good. And something something reasonable profit margin." Sirius shrugged. "I want to make enough to maintain operating costs and make sure my employes are happy." He clicked his tongue at Ron and Harry tussling. "Children, stop now."

"You're one to talk," Harry said, finally pushing Ron to the ground. "You and Remus were wrestling in Grimmauld the other day."

"There's a difference. I irritated him enough to snap," Sirius sniffed. "Come along, let me show you everything!"

He led them into the main operations building. "Here are the mashing and fermenting parts of the process. They make the combination of grain and mash it good, then cook it along with the water and let it ferment to build up the alcohol. The big vessels are labeled to show which grain and when they started fermenting. Then we filter the solids out here, and take them to the distillery over here."

They looked up in awe at the gigantic metal containers situated over smoldering fires. "Here they distill! Which means they boil and the vapors go up there and when they cool, they become alcohol liquid again and it's pure and nice. Then we decant them out into barrels for the whiskey and set them aside in their designated storerooms to mature. Gin ones we add the juniper too and it'll mature in its own home, but we also want to try different things to infuse in them."

Sirius looked at Ron. "So! What do your patrons usually look for?"

"Well, most take firewhiskey straight," Ron said knowledgably. "There are mixed whiskey drinks and we use regular whiskey for that or even Muggle whisky. Firewhiskey makes mixed drinks taste really weird. Hannah says she heard a rumor that it's a charm from the making process where it reacts violently if it's mixed with things."

"Damn, that's kind of smart," Sirius muttered.

"Wouldn't mind some alternatives to a sipping whiskey," Ron said. "Some think firewhiskey is too strong and I agree. Sometimes you want something a little smoother and with less of a burn or a bite. Especially if we can serve up something to eat with it, don't want it to overpower."

He walked over to the barrels of gin. "Now gin, it's all over the place. Lots like to sip it neat or over ice or chilled but plenty like it mixed with the regular gin and tonic or other mixers. A fruit gin is always good. We don't do the weird mixed drinks at the Cauldron so simple ones without a lot of flair or hoopla is always good."

"Infusing, if it's like what they do for potions, is simple enough. Cuttings or pieces of the fruit or plant and let it sit," Neville said. "I can think of a few different herbs and the like that might work, depending on what you want the gin to taste like of course. I'm no expert, but I'm sure we can make it work easily enough."

"Here's our main gin product," Sirius said. He picked up a bottle and poured out small measures into small beakers and handed them to the other three. They each took an experimental sip.

"Ooh, that's nice," Ron said. "Not too sharp, very aromatic. This is just juniper berries?"

"Sure is, it's our flagship regular right now and will be the base. I like gin here and there but don't want to be licking a pine tree," Sirius said.

"That should take to all kinds of botanicals then," Neville said, smacking his lips thoughtfully. "Sometimes the juniper is too strong but this should be nice to keep as an undertone."

Sirius rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Thanks Harry! This is going to be great!"

-0-

"Thanks for coming everyone!" Sirius looked around the rooftop garden with a gigantic smile on his face. "I have something very special to share." He pulled off a tablecloth and revealed a line of bottles on a table. "After months of work and experimenting and the like, I think we hit on some products that we like and are going to start selling! I asked you all here to do some taste testing and let me know what you think."

"I have been looking forward to this," Andromeda said.

"I have not," McGonagall snorted.

"Way to set the bar high for yourself," Harry muttered to Sirius, looking at McGonagall.

"Hey, if I can have her like something, that's a guaranteed win in my book," Sirius said. "Let's start with the gins!"

"Hmmm," Thomas said, licking his lips. "This is nice. Smooth, not too juniper forward, aromatic without being overpowering."

"Since when were you some fancy pants taste tester?" Lyla asked, staring at her father.

"Since you and your sister grew up and I was allowed a hobby without you two taking all my money," Thomas said, smiling cheekily at Lyla and Katie giving him a look.

"This will be good for mixing and sipping," Hannah said. "How much are you selling it for?" She raised an eyebrow at the quote. "At cost?"

"Wholesale, to friends with businesses," Sirius said.

"Sign it," she said to Ron. "We need to get in on this."

Sirius chuckled. "Try the rest first, just in case."

"Mmm, nice and citrusy," Katie said, tasting a new one. "That's tart and bright. I like it."

"That's our citrus blend. This is our herbal one," Sirius said.

"Oooh, this is nice," Andromeda said approvingly. "Herbal but not herbaceous."

"What's the difference?" Harry asked.

"You do not feel like you are drinking a salad or licking potpourri," she said, making the others laugh. "Though it is just shy of medicinal, but pleasantly so."

"That's a Neville blend," Sirius said. "Nice mix of things that look green."

"It was fun experimenting with blends," Neville smiled.

"I was worried for a while," Ginny sighed. "Seeing you come home red cheeked more often."

"Grandmum helped a lot too," Neville chortled. "She and her friends got into all kinds of trouble last I heard when she said I had to stop bringing samples."

"Now for the whiskey," Sirius said. He poured out measures of amber liquid and passed them around.

"Is this blended or single malt?" McGonagall asked, swirling the liquid around in her glass and taking a sniff of the aroma.

"Single malt barley but we didn't smoke it over peat all that much and there's a little other grain in it. Not trying to compete against scotch whisky," Sirius said. "It's also kinda of a nod to bourbon because we age it in some American oak barrels for the vanilla notes and a smoother sweeter finish."

"Bah! If you want something sweet to drink you might as well drink juice or milk," McGonagall sniffed.

"Well we're not calling it scotch either so there!" Sirius retorted.

"Babies, the lot of you," McGonagall said, shaking a finger at him.

"At least try it before giving me a finger," he sniffed.

"You know, I have to say it, I like it," David said, looking at the glass appreciatively. "It's like a mix between scotch whisky and bourbon. Not dry, slightly sweet, the vanilla note is nice. This was aged a few months? I bet it'll taste even rounder after some more aging."

"I've learned a lot about alcohol lately," Sirius laughed, "but apparently bourbon has to be at least 51% corn and the majority of this is malted barley but we put in a little corn too. When we aged it in the barrels without the corn, it didn't taste quite what we wanted, but we think this is a nice bridge between the two."

"I'll admit, I'm not that fond of scotch," Jean confessed. "It's too smoky for me."

"Do not tell me that, I actually like you," McGonagall said to their laughter. She sipped again. "While it is not scotch, it is potable."

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Sirius said, wiping away a tear.

McGonagall snorted. "It is a bit rough still so I agree with David, could use some more aging, but I believe it will age nicely."

"I'd buy this, at a discount of course," Ted grinned.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Harry asked.

"Almost!"

"Please don't tell me it's something like Seriously Good Whiskey or something equally dumb," Tonks said.

"Seriously or Siriusly?" Remus asked dryly.

Sirius grumbled and crossed out a line on a bit of parchment. "I thought it was a good name," he muttered.

"Could be worse," Andromeda said. "Could be something like, 'Hair of What Bit You'."

"Why are my relatives so mean," Sirius sighed and crossed out another line.

"Maybe you should share more ideas before they get prematurely shot down," Harry smiled.

"Well here's a graphical design for one, to accompany the name DogBone Brewing." He showed them a design.

"You are not using the Bones' family crest for this!" Amelia shouted while others laughed.

Sirius shook his hands, blowing on them. Amelia had shot the parchment with a spell and it had burned rapidly to ashes in his hands. "I can't believe this!"

"You're not fooling me," Remus snorted. "You knew people would mock those names and ideas and you started off with them so you can pretend to be hurt."

"I'm not pretending, I think my fingers got burned a little," Sirius sniffed. "But you're not wholly wrong. This is something I'm leaning towards." He showed a new picture of a wolf, a stag, and a dog sitting against a barrel together.

"Aww that's cute," Katie smiled. "Rascal's Revelry. That's a nice name, rolls off the tongue."

"So the root word for marauder is the French word maraud, which means rascal. And we were a bunch of rascals," Sirius said wistfully.

"Yes you were," McGonagall said softly.

"So I thought it'd be nice to name it something like this, for the stupid things we did and should have been able to keep doing." Sirius looked at Remus and Harry. "What do you two think?"

"I think Dad would love it," Harry said quietly.

"He would," Remus said thickly. "And I do too."

"Then that's what it is," Sirius said with a slightly watery smile. "Rascal's Revelry Distillery. Sounds good to me I think." He poured more measures of the whiskey for everyone. "To friends and family," he toasted.

"To days gone and days to come," Remus said and they all drank together.

"You look happy," Harry said later when Sirius and he sat side-by-side.

"I'm happy, genuinely," Sirius smiled. "It's been fun thinking and planning and working with new people. Seeing all our hard work come out to this, it's satisfying. Really and truly satisfying."

"Good," Harry said firmly. He looked down at something Sirius gave him, an iron key. "What's this?"

"A key to a special storeroom," Sirius said. "I've laid down a special barrel for certain things and they'll be kept in the storeroom, just for us. I put one down from our first real batch and one I set on the day we were reunited. After they age a few years, we can share them."

"That sounds great," Harry said, touched.

"And I'll keep putting down barrels for special moments," Sirius said. "I put one down for your wedding anniversary, for Dahlia's birthday, and I'll keep doing it. To give us something special to look forward to on special occasions." He poured one last glass for himself and Harry.

"To finding new joys in life," Harry said, raising the glass.

"To friends and family that you find joy with," Sirius said.

Their glasses echoed musically and the setting sun made the amber spirit shine as they drank together.

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Ghostwriter - While receiving a bit of comfort in return.

odonnellsoo99 - He and Angelina have a good relationship.

alix33 - I like their dynamic a lot.