Author's Note: This one isn't as long as last week, but I could have kept going and you wouldn't have had a chapter this week. Thanks to everyone who is reading and those to take time to review. MNF

Chapter 18:

Mottos and Motives

July 18, 1994

"Their birthdays are in two weeks," Sirius said to Augusta. "Harry has never had a real birthday celebration. There was a party when he was one, but he played for a while and then fell asleep in his playpen, so I'm not sure exactly how much he enjoyed it. Mostly it was the adults' making fools of themselves over him."

"Neville had a first birthday party, but he was teething or some such thing and was cranky as a hippogriff who hadn't been fed in an hour. Alice eventually took him upstairs to his nursery and the adults enjoyed the dinner party. After that, I never knew who we could trust, other than Amelia with Susan, but she was working all the time. I never saw the need for a party."

"Then we are going to fix that this year," Sirius said with a firm shake of his head. "I suggest a two-part affair. First, we can invite some mates from school – Gryffindor year mates, Quidditch team members, others in their study groups. Is there a herbology club?"

"Not that I know of, although Neville has become friendly with a student in Hufflepuff that Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones are friends with. He's a very kind boy, going into his seventh year. Cedric Diggory lives over near Ottery St. Catchpole," Augusta said, raising her teacup to her lips. "What are you going to do about the Weasley family? Neville exchanged letters with the four youngest this summer. The younger two seem to think Harry is obligated to be their friend."

"A notion no doubt put into their minds by their mother," Sirius said with a scowl. "I'm not going to force him to be friendly with Ron, as he's been a bit of an arse to him, nor Ginny. He was mortified that Dumbledore and Molly had attempted to create a marriage contract for him."

"Hmph," Augusta agreed. "The twins, however, I truly believe they want a chance to apologize."

"His birthday party is not the place for such things. Perhaps we can meet somewhere neutral with Arthur and the twins, but not his birthday party. They're going to need to be at least civil with each other, if Harry plays Quidditch again. Do you know if Neville has any marriage contracts to destroy?"

"None. His father was adamant that he be allowed to choose the person he loves. There are liable to be a few others out there for Harry though," Augusta said. "Who knows what THAT MAN did in Harry's name."

"Well, none were made by James and Lily, as they wanted their son to find love the same way they did. I'll end any that might linger out there. Enough with this discussion, let's make a list for the party, and may I suggest we use Stargazer's Summit? I only plan on using it for formal family affairs. The rest of the time the house is closed."

"That sounds lovely," Augusta said. "I remember going there for your grandparents New Year's celebrations."

"They were…extravagant and hard to forget. The garden is extensive, and it has that pond in the back for swimming. Now, for the second part…" the two put their heads together, determined to make their end of the month celebration delightful.

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Two days later there was a very small notice on page seven of The Daily Prophet. Remus read it first and then he handed the paper to Harry, pointing it out. It was a quick read and Harry laid the paper down before looking at Remus.

"Did you know his family was from Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked.

"I think I did, although it wouldn't have been something I thought was important at the time. I probably saw their graves the one time I went to visit your mum and dad's stone. Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Harry confessed honestly.

"That's an honest answer, Harry," Remus said gently.

"How do you think Sirius will take it?" Harry asked. "He's been…is he sleeping at all?"

"Sirius is getting sleep, he's just…your godfather is mercurial. Right now, he's working on something that has him excited and nighttime has always been his favourite time to work." Remus was working very hard not to say something that might clue Harry into the nature of Sirius's late-night creations. "Like the Grim he resembles, he prowls in the shadows when he's up to something."

"Do you think his potions are working?" Harry asked, looking far older than his years.

"Yes, and he's seeing a new therapist who is less emotive and more concrete, which is what Padfoot needs. He's always been a man of action rather than introspection."

"That is absolutely true, Moony. Have you finished your breakfast?" Sirius asked his son.

"Almost," Harry said. "Why do you have a sword on your hip?"

"Because today we are going to explore a form of duelling which will aid you in the magical pursuit," Sirius said, grabbing a toast triangle from the rack and biting half of it off.

"Huh?" Harry asked.

"Read this," Moony said, handing him the paper. Sirius read the notice.

"Glad they didn't invite us. I'll talk with Mini, I know she spent so much of her life as his…" Sirius stopped. "I suppose it's best that it was done without a lot of fanfare. He had been a great man, once." Sirius looked pensively at his friend before his face became animated again. "Eat up, the skill and craft of knights awaits us!" Mercurial was the perfect word for the apparently swashbuckling Sirius.

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"Why do you want me to learn to fight with a, what is that? Is that a broadsword, like in medieval times?" Harry asked sceptically.

"I do. There are benefits to being able to wield a sword. First, I want to teach you to duel, both with weapons and with wands, but weapons are the logical place to start. Second, because I want to teach you to duel magically, you need to learn about distance. With a sword, you have a striking range and a safe range. Once you enter the striking range you can land a blow against your opponent, but they can also land one against you. Lastly, you will be at an advantage against anyone you magically duel if you can come at them with an unexpected weapon," Sirius explained.

"How many duels do you think I'm going to get myself into?" Harry asked, still unsure of this plan. "Wouldn't it make sense to start with magic?"

"Harry, cast your Patronus Charm for me," Sirius asked politely. It was the first higher level spell Harry would attempt, as he'd not moved past second year as some of his Charms and Transfigurations were wonky.

Harry cast a blindingly bright stag. Sirius had his hand over his eyes and had turned away, but he could still see the enormous deer prance around his boy. After about thirty seconds, Harry cancelled the charm.

"Point taken," Harry said solemnly.

"Harry, I do believe you'll learn to manage your magic, but it's going to take work. This is something that, sword fighting, can work excess energy out of your body in a good way. You can go for four or five runs every day." Harry and Sirius usually ran early in the morning or late in the evening. Harry would run without his father several more times a day. Andi believed it was his body adjusting to his core fully functioning.

"Now, the other reason I want to teach you how duel is it's a wonderful way to learn strategy. I honestly believe you'd be amazing at it and could even join the duelling circuit one day. I nearly did after Hogwarts, except your dad was joining the DMLE and I went wherever he did. That said, you're fast, your balance is amazing, and I swear you see more than the average person. It would explain your deft handling of a broom when you play Quidditch."

"I wish we had a real duelling club at school," Harry said. "We did briefly in second year, but it was handled by that idiot Lockhart and Snape."

"Professor Snape, Harry," Remus reminded him as he emerged from the sunroom carrying another broadsword and several other weapons. Harry rolled his eyes at his uncle.

"Ah good, you found it," Sirius said, giving Remus his sword and taking the new broadsword in his free hand and balancing it on the tips of his fingers. "So much better balanced than my family one. I suppose that's because it was made with magic. Harry, I present to you the Potter family sword." Harry took it, shocked at how heavy it was.

"How am I supposed to lift this?"

"For right now, we'll put a charm on it, and as you get used to the weight, we can make it heavier until you're comfortable with its full mass," Remus explained, taking out his wands and casting the spell.

"That's much better," the teen enthused.

Sirius led Harry through the basic moves, and they practiced them slowly at first, gaining speed with each repetition. Then Sirius and Remus duelled. It was like a choreographed dance, the two men moved around each other.

Remus was all about brute strength, and Harry seeing tinges of the wolf in his favourite professor. Sirius, on the other hand, was as deft as a cat moving about. He'd twirl out of the way of Remus's sword, dip beneath his outstretched arm and finally was able to land his blade at the werewolf's neck, ending their exhibition.

"That was amazing! How did you learn to do that?" Harry asked.

"All pureblood children of any renown learn in the years just before Hogwarts and then are practiced through school holidays. My father was brutal, which should come as no surprise. My grandfather, however, was finesse and strategy. He was about conservation of energy so he could explode at the right moment. I took after him. You should see my cousins, they all could be deadly, in the right situation."

"Like Cousin Andi?" Harry asked, feeling surprised that his sweet, overbearing, hug-loving cousin could wield such a weapon.

"Yes, and Tonks is even more lethal. Don't ever let a pretty face keep you from remembering that. Remus, how did you learn?"

"My father taught me, for much the same reason you want Harry to take up the practice; to burn off energy. My affliction might make me weak a few days of the month, but the rest of the time I have excess resources to burn. Imagine a seven-year-old with exponentially more reserves than usual. I've tried nearly everything to keep the frenetic energy under control as an adult, but there are times I too need to run or take a long swim," Remus explained.

"Only boy who swam in the lake at Hogwarts in February. He was quite a sight. Once he forgot to bring his wand and he returned to the castle with a blueish tinge," Sirius teased.

"I only did it once," Remus reminded his friend. The trio shared a chuckle. It had been two hours since they had come outside, and Remus began picking up the weapons. He would need to check them over and ensure the blades were clean and sharp. Far better to get a cut from a straight, sharp edge than a dull, ragged one.

Sirius led Harry over to the gazebo where a pitcher of perfectly cool water and two glasses were awaiting them.

"Couldn't you have given us butterbeer?" Harry asked.

"No, the best thing for you to rehydrate with is water. We can have butterbeer with lunch if you want." Harry nodded and then gulped half his glass down in one go.

"I think we should start on your third year spells this afternoon. What class were you most comfortable doing spells in? Sirius asked.

"Defence, although unless you find me a boggart, I might have a problem with a few. Remus really taught about darker creatures and the like. He taught me a few spells, like the Patronus Charm, when we have our more private lessons – although we talked about mum and dad and the Marauders at them."

"Hmm," Sirius said. "I bet there's at least one boggart in my parents' old house. I can trap it and bring it over. "

"You don't need to go to that much trouble," Harry said. "I know you hate that place."

"I do, but there are some items which need to be removed before I can burn it to the ground and sell the land. I know the darkness has seeped into the walls, I just hope the ground isn't saturated in it too," Sirius said bleakly. "I'll let you come with me, show you my room and the Muggle posters that gave my parents conniptions."

"Were you always such trouble?" Harry asked and Sirius looked into his glass and thought carefully about it.

"I was a normal boy, I think. My brother and I, being not quite two years apart were mischief makers as soon as we could get up and move on our own. We drove so many nannies away, even a couple of Cissy's governesses. We did normal boy things – frogs in beds, slime wherever – that sort of thing. Trouble didn't really start until I began to think. I was six, I think and I'd spent the afternoon looking out the window watching the other children play in the snow. The first time I stated I didn't understand why we couldn't just be nice to the Muggle neighbours I was sent to the basement just before dinner."

"You were six!" Harry spat in indignation.

"My age didn't matter. I was the heir, and I would bend to the family motto. My parents' generation translated it to 'Always Pure', but my grandfather Arcturus preferred the version of 'Consistently Perfect'. When I was eight, I began Latin lessons, and decided that I would interpret it as 'At All Times Clear'. That is who I strove to be, and the one person who it mattered most to, Grandfather, respected me for it. My parents, however, did not."

"That's a good motto," Harry said with respect.

"Yes and no. If I'd had the maturity at thirteen to truly live by it, then it would have been brilliant. But I was not mature at thirteen. I still hadn't gained enough maturity when I was sixteen and I ran away from home. Yes, my parents were cursing me and yes, there was a chance that I could have died from what they were doing – but I had intentionally goaded them with my actions. I knew that Reg was reporting every stupid thing James and I did, and I was trying to make our public displays more and more outrageous. I was not mature enough until your parents died. I wonder if I am worthy of my motto yet."

Harry surveyed the face of his father and saw how his memories haunted him. That didn't frighten him; Harry feared how Sirius's face seemed to also show how the future caused him consternation.