(Coeus Black - PoV)

"Dora, honey, let's go!" Ted calls up the stairs.

Andy stands next to him, arms crossed, tapping her foot and glaring up in Dora's presumed direction.

Andy has a thing about punctuality. Dora does not.

One more thing for them to fight about.

Iris and Phoebe wait with me by the fireplace, the three of us dressed in our plain Hogwarts robes. None of us wear the hats.

No one wears the hats. They went out of fashion centuries ago.

"Coming!" Dora calls back.

"It is a good thing Metamorphs don't break bones very easily," Phoebe comments.

"What? Why? And how?" Iris asks.

*Crash**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump*

Dora comes tumbling down the stairs, sprawling out at Ted and Andy's feet.

Andy sighs.

"All good down there?" Ted asks.

"Yup!" Dora says, untangling her own twisted pile of limbs in a way that vaguely hurts to look at.

"Just practicing my...uh...combat tumble?"

"I think you need a lot more practice," Ted replies.

"It's a work in progress."

"That's why," Phoebe finally replies to Iris. "And how, for that matter. Metamorphs can do some really weird stuff with their bodies with a bit of practice."

Iris' face is scrunched up from watching Dora sort her limbs out.

"Yeah. Yeah, I got that..."

She shudders.

"If you think that is bad, try wrestling with her." I chime in. "You end up getting them wrapped all around you."

Iris shakes her head.

"No. No thank you."

"If you are quite done, everyone is waiting on you!" Andy chides. "We are already late at this point! I told Sirius and Remus we would be there by now."

"Yeah yeah," Dora negligently waves a hand at her mother before dusting off her robes. "We have plenty of time before the train leaves, and a little waiting won't kill anyone. I doubt any of the midgets are exactly upset about making those two stand around for a bit, eh?"

We all shrug, before I decide to be slightly contrary.

"Well, I do want to show Remus my new knife, I guess?" I tell her, pulling out the silver knife Grandfather gave me.

Dora laughs, strolling over to come take a look at it while Andy deflates. "Why me?" she mutters.

"Never change, Coeus, never change," Dora says. She whistles appreciatively at the knife, before turning her attention to the fireplace.

"Anyhow, what are you lot standing around for?" Dora asks, before smirking at Andy. "Haven't you heard? We are late." She throws a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace. "Platform 9 and 3/4!"

The three of us glance at each other before following her, with Andy and Ted taking up the rear.

The platform is rather packed, as expected. Wizards, witches, and occasionally stranger individuals wander the area, with various animals flitting to and fro between legs.

I find myself momentarily distracted by a wizard with blazing blue and bronze letters flowing out of his mouth as he speaks, forming words above his head. The words jostle and shove each other, fighting for prominence and attention before slowly dissolving into smoke.

"Busy as ever I see," Andy says. "Now, where could they be? I doubt they would have gone far."

"Look for the dog," Phobe says.

Of course he would transform. If he tries to lick me I am cursing him, and possibly throwing him on the tracks after.

"The dog?" Andy asks, but our eyes all pick out the great black mutt bounding towards us at the same time.

Wands are in our hands immediately, but he appears to be aiming for Andy.

Merlin, even in his dog form I can practically hear him yelling her name mid-leap.

It doesn't help him as he suddenly freezes in place, hanging in mid-air for a moment before crashing to the ground.

Andy strolls over in a tizzy, wand in hand, and starts berating him.

Several bystanders stop to watch, confused, as a woman in very nice robes stands over a dog yelling at it in the middle of the crowded platform.

Surprisingly, even Ted makes no move to intervene.

"So, that's your dad, huh?" he asks.

"Unfortunately..."

He nods, watching the scene as Remus finally catches up. The man is at least wearing robes, but they are in as poor condition as everything else he owns. Could he not borrow a set from Sirius?

"Andromeda, you uh, may want to let him turn back?" he suggests. "It appears to be causing a bit of a scene..."

Andy glances around, flushing as she notices the onlookers.

She waves her wand, and Sirius jerks a bit before a rather rumpled dark-haired man lays on the ground in place of the dog.

Glancing at the crowd once more, she leans over and continues to hiss at him as Remus helps him to his feet.

"Jus' trying to say hi, Andy..." he mutters, chagrined.

She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know why I expected any better...Fine, fine, come on then. I assume you noticed Iris and the twins at some point mid-leap?"

He nods, following along after her.

"I wasn't going to even try jumping on them, not after our last visit. I figured they would knife me or something..."

I nod in agreement. If he somehow managed to avoid the curses, it would be a good second resort.

"Speaking of knives, hey, Remus," I pull out my new heirloom. "What do you think?"

The typically passive man jerks hard enough to stumble midstep, and advances no closer, eyeing my new toy very, very warily.

All good signs.

"That...what...where did you get something like that?" he asks, his tone far less placid than usual.

Sirius shifts his gaze back and forth between his friend and my knife.

"Grandfather. After your explanation, I wrote him to ask if he knew where to get a proper silver knife, and he sent me this. It's apparently a Black family heirloom. He said he has tested it himself, but I wanted to be sure."

"Wanted to be sure..." Sirius mutters.

"Yes...Yes, I can assure you, it is...quite effective." Remus says, swallowing. "I can feel it even from here."

"And of course that old bastard tested it himself, probably did the..."

I nod, trying to ignore Sirius muttering as I put it away.

I think my point is made.

Remus relaxes significantly, but Sirus shakes his head.

"Really? You find out that the first knives weren't enough, so you have to go and get better ones?" he asks.

I tilt my head.

"Well, yes? That's how it works, isn't it? I mean, do you really want a wand that doesn't work? Or a leaky cauldron?"

"Are you really that determined to kill him?" he asks, with rather a lot of hostility.

I roll my eyes.

"Does it look like I am trying to kill him? Obviously not."

I look at Remus.

"He knows what's up."

Sirius looks at his friend, who sighs and lowers his head before nodding resignedly.

"Threatening the less fortunate now, Coeus?"

Turning, I see Daphne has managed to sneak up on us, her parents close behind...unfortunately.

Astoria is here too though, which is a plus. Maybe I can sic her on Sirius?

"Daphne, Astoria," I nod at them, ignoring their parents. It is very much a slight, but one I get away with by pleading ignorance.

Daphne smiles, but Astoria barely acknowledges me, her attention instead focused on Iris. Makes sense, I suppose. As far as I know, it is her first time meeting the famed Girl-Who-Lived.

Iris, as expected, fidgets a bit under the attention, while Daphne starts speaking to me again.

"I recognize your father, of course," I frown at the constant reminder of our relation, something Daphne picks up on, "but not his friend?"

I wave a negligent hand in their direction.

"Remus Lupin, werewolf."

Daphne blinks, and even Astoria's attention is drawn away from staring at Iris.

"I...see? You keep rather odd company of late."

I shrug, patting my robes.

"Hence my new enchanted silver knife. By the way, did you know regular silver is actually not really very useful against weres? Because I did not."

Daphne blinks again.

"No. No, I did not know that. Do I want to know how you found out?"

"Remus was not intimidated when we started pulling silver on him and gave us a lecture."

Daphne briefly opens her mouth, closes it, then rolls her eyes.

"Of course. You would pull silver on a were." She shakes her head.

"Anyhow, want to make a run for the train while everyone is distracted?" she suggests.

I glance over just in time to see Mrs. Greengrass slap Sirius.

I am sure he deserved it. Especially given the way most everyone around them is facepalming in some manner.

I turn back to agree, but Astoria elbows her sister rather conspicuously.

"Ow! Ok, fine. Iris, this is Astoria Greengrass, my little sister. Astoria, Iris Potter. Happy?"

This time it is Astoria's turn to roll her eyes.

"Sorry. Look, we really have to go before Mom and Dad come back over. I do not want to get stuck out here with them all day," Daphne explains.

"So instead you are taking off and leaving me stuck with them all year. Gee, thanks," Astoria complains.

I can't blame her, that sounds awful.

I wonder if she has considered patricide?

Daphne winces, eyeing the ongoing commotion before shaking her head. "I'll owe you." She looks at us. "Come on now, let's go?"

I look back as well and manage to catch Dora's eye, motioning to the train. She waves us on.

All good then, she will let Andy and Ted know.

Astoria reluctantly waits behind as the rest of us make our way through the crowds toward the train.

She really is taking one for the team here. We will have to do something nice for her later. Maybe a broomstick signed by Iris?